Until Death Do Us Part
by LilyBartAndTheOthers
Summary: When Maura realizes that she needs to be married in order to welcome a foreign student at her place, she turns to Jane for help. What is a two-month fake marriage in a whole life, anyway? Rizzles endgame.
1. Prologue

_**Author's note: here comes a new story, I hope that you will like it; daily updates as usual.**_

**Prologue**

She was nervous. It was an undeniable fact. From her heartbeats increasing by the minute to the way her hands were moist, Maura had no choice but to admit that she had succumbed to quite a terrible anxiety before the events that were about to occur. She repeated the scenario in her head then made sure that she had the required elements at reach to make it all as perfect as it could be. Jane wouldn't give her a chance to be wrong. The situation was delicate to say the least.

Jane.

As if the Italian had heard her friend call her name, she passed the door of the coffee shop – turned around – and waved a discreet hand before going to order a drink. Maura straightened up and took one long breath. It was now or never.

"What is going on by Essex Street? I got stuck in traffic right at the corner of Oxford and..." As the waitress brought her a large mug, Jane stopped complaining and politely smiled at the employee.

Maura's nervousness had officially reached a new level in the meantime, the kind of one that didn't allow her to move an inch unless she wanted to pass out. The more she thought about her plan, the more it appeared to be extremely stupid. It wasn't too late yet to give it up.

"So why did you wanna see me?"

Maura pursed her lips and made a face. It was now too late to ever come backwards. For a moment, she observed her friend on the other side of the table; completely unaware of what was on the verge of happening to her. Jane seemed relaxed, in a good mood. Something told Maura that it would not last.

Without torturing herself any more time, she grabbed the box out of her bag and made it slide on the table, right by Jane's mug. She swallowed hard and forced a smile.

"For you." Her shaking voice betrayed her anxiety.

Surprised, Jane didn't touch the box at first. She stared at it with her big dark eyes – wrinkled her nose – and frowned. She was confused, almost suspicious as a matter fact.

And it was fair enough.

"What is it?" The words passed her lips very slowly as she finally looked up at her friend; her hand now brushing the velvet of the blue box.

Maura cleared her voice and ran a hand through her hair. She seemed extremely embarrassed, on the verge of breaking into hives. Perhaps the coffee shop wasn't such a good idea. She had assumed that a public place would be better if only because Jane wouldn't dare to throw a scene at her but she had to admit – now – that there was nothing less sure at all.

"It is a box, a velvet box. A Tiffany one..."

Jane chuckled and – growing out of patience before her friend's way too literal statement – grabbed it. She raised a sarcastic eyebrow, let a smirk play on her lips.

"Why thank you, Captain Obvious." But the brunette's infamous tone vanished as soon as she went and opened the box. She blinked – cast a glance at the rest of the room as if to make sure that not a single person around had seen anything – then locked her eyes with her friend's. "What is this?"

Pale like a ghost, the medical examiner shrugged and tilted her head on a side as if to give herself a semblance of casualness. In vain. She miserably failed.

"Why it is a wedding band..."

Jane rose a hand in the air to make her stop immediately. The box closed back in a sound that made her jump of surprise and blush. She hissed.

"I _know_ what it is, Maura. I'm not that much of a cat lady either that I wouldn't be able to recognize a wedding ring." Jane shook her head and laughed nervously. "I'm asking you why you offer this to me. Here, in front of everyone." She paused and frowned before the words she had just said. "Okay I mean anywhere. Why would you offer me a wedding band?"

"I knew it was going to be a bad idea..." Maura moaned and buried her face in her hands. She shook her head before what looked like a complete fiasco.

"Well, I usually tend to do better when this kind of proposal is preceeded of... What I know? A meal and at least a couple of Margaritas!"

Maura dared a timid look at her friend through her spread fingers. Jane was hiding the box under the palm of her hand, desperately trying to look casual. She wasn't fooling anyone, though.

"I am not asking you to marry me, Jane." Trying to find some courage, the medical examiner sat up and let a long sigh pass her lips. "Or at least not really."

"Is everything okay?"

Jane snapped her head on her left to cast a glance at the waitress. She hadn't seen her approach. Nor had Maura by the mortified expression that was now lighting up her features.

"Yeah, yeah. We're good, thanks."

The employee nodded – satisfied – and walked away to another table; leaving both women finally alone. Jane waited for a couple of seconds. She had hoped that Maura would explain it all but the scientist seemed to have lost any courage to do so.

"Is this a prank of some sort? That'd explain why Cavanaugh agreed on letting me go earlier, today."

Maura shook her head, her attempt at a casual laugh dying into an inaudible whisper of a sound. She bit her lower lip – uncertain of the way she was supposed to bring it up – then closed her eyes.

"Do you remember how enthusiastic I was – back in May – when my mother told us about this err... This French association that allows high-school students to spend some time abroad at a family to... To follow an international cursus?"

Jane snorted and took a sip of her coffee, suddenly regretting the fact that she hadn't ordered an Irish one instead. She needed a stronger drink right now. Caffeine wouldn't do it.

"How could I forget? You ordered new pillows for your guestroom and was about to send the..." All of a sudden, the detective sat up and frowned at her friend. "Wait. You sent the application form?"

Maura nodded apologetically and looked down at the table. Her hands were so moist that they had left prints on the wood.

"I did and got accepted..." She swallowed hard. _It is now or never, Isles. Come on! Speak! _"Except I had missed a clause in the contract." The blonde looked up – locked her eyes with her friend's – and spilled it out. "I am supposed to be married. They don't want the children to stay with an adult who would be single."

Jane frowned. She wasn't feeling angry but lost; very confused. She trusted her friend and knew for a fact that Maura wouldn't put her life in danger either but still, the current situation was unexpected to say the least.

"Why?"

Maura shrugged and grabbed her napkin. She proceeded to tear it in a thousand pieces; the gesture highlighting her nervousness.

"They find it better for the students to experience a family scheme based on two parents, if only for affinities to grow and to multiply the different activities parents can offer to their guest. And... Well – since they don't mind about the idea of same-sex couples – I thought that..."

"You didn't have to buy a _Tiffany_ ring for a fake marriage, Maura!" Jane frowned at her very own remark. She surely hadn't assumed that such detail could be a point of argumentation. It was really not a priority in all this. "I mean err..." She ran a hand through her hair, still not daring to open the box again. Not with so many strangers around. "Have you lost your mind? You can't lie! It's going to be torture for you!"

The scientist widened her eyes in hope and smiled brightly for the first time.

"Are you telling me that you accept it? Two months. The student would stay at my place for two months only. After that, you are free to... Ask for a divorce!" Maura laughed but stopped almost right away as Jane didn't even crack a smile. "Please. You know this is something I would like to try... If only once. I swear that I didn't know I was supposed to be married."

Jane crossed her arms against her chest and sat further on her chair. She had been pouting for the last minute or so. As she looked down, her eyes stopped on the velvet box abandoned on the table. Maura had certainly not done things by half. _Tiffany_, of all jewellers. What would she do of such a ring once the undercover was over? _Since when are you that materialistic, Rizzoli? Look at her, she has never seemed so insecure, dammit._

Jane leaned over the table – suddenly – and crossed her hands over the box. She bit her lips as if in an intense effort of concentration then nodded.

"Fine. But as ugly as our divorce might be... I keep Jo Friday." She winked – put her sunglasses on – and grabbed the box. "_Honey_..."

Maura's relieved smile vanished at the last comment from her friend. She frowned in disapproval – shook her head – then wrinkled her nose.

"Jane! You know that I hate pet names."

Admiring the platinum wedding band on her finger, the brunette smirked. She was now in a teasing mood and – the more she thought about it – the more she started thinking that she had real chances to have a blast with this fake marriage. Getting on Maura's nerves was worth every single penny.

"Why sweetie... Aren't marriages made of compromises?"


	2. Her Name Is Margot

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews, I hope that you will enjoy this light and funny ride**_

**Chapter one: Her Name Is Margot**

"Your Ficus will do a lot better here than at your apartment. It cruelly lacked light out there, believe me." Maura checked the plant by Jane's piano now in her living-room and nodded at her friend with a brand new determination she had got since the day the Italian had accepted her crazy plan. "Have you printed the pictures we need?"

"I have... Although they are not wedding material. Unless you are the kind of person who decides to tie the knot at the BPD or at a funfair." The brunette paused and looked up at Maura as a smirk played on her lips. "A wedding on top of a Ferris Wheel. Now wouldn't your family love the idea..."

The medical examiner didn't reply. Instead, she walked to the kitchen to check the pictures she was about to get framed. They had chosen a dozen of them as soon as they had got the date of Margot's arrival. A sixteen-year-old girl from Bordeaux, France; daughter of a journalist and a teacher. They had two days left to organize their life according to the foreign student. Forty-eight hours to create the semblance of marriage.

Angela had been told. Korsak had been told. Frost had been told. Jane's brothers had been told. Of course, they had all laughed out loud at the idea but had accepted to play along for it being innocent enough. It was a harmless game, what could possibly happen in the end?

"We got married at the courthouse, Jane. It can definitely explain the absence of picture of you and I in a wedding dress with one hundred guests by a lovely place."

The detective made a face at the remark and snorted.

"Yeah sure. Like you'd let this happen. I know you, Maura Isles." Jane paused, already savoring the taste of victory. "Maura Dorthea Isles-Rizzoli. Unless it's Rizzoli-Isles? What am I supposed to say, wifey?"

Focused on choosing a frame color among an impressive panel, the honey blonde shrugged and bit her lips. She had better things to do than play along Jane's game right now. They still had a lot to do before Margot to arrive.

"Who cares, Jane? You will call me by my name as you already do. As a matter of fact, it will all be the same except for our matching wedding bands and the state of your Ficus."

Her very own statement made her blush. Had she just implied that – somehow – she and Jane were already behaving like a married couple? She hadn't meant to say such thing. Not at all. She knew – for a fact – the kind of rumor that were already going on at work between the two of them but at no moment had Maura tried to assent these.

A bit embarrassed and uncomfortable, she walked away to her desk and grabbed back the glass of wine she had let there a few minutes earlier. She took a long sip; one that she hoped invigorating.

The truth was that the situation stressed her a lot more than what she had imagined. What if it went wrong? What if – as Jane had alluded to it once – she broke into hives? She couldn't lie. Of course, she did master the art of periphrasis and obscure explanations when needed but still, not for such a long time. Two months.

For two months, she would pretend to lead a complete different life before an adolescent who had not asked for anything like that.

"Don't stress out. You know you can count on me."

Jane's statement hit the air with a strong sincerity that made Maura turn around. A bit taken aback by the veracity of such comment, she blinked and finally looked down; at a loss for words. Since when didn't they even need to speak out loud to understand each other like that?

_Since day one, Isles. Since the very first time you two met. Can't you simply admit it by now? You two are best friends. This is how it works. _

The door of the patio flew opened – taking Maura out of her daydreams – and Angela came in with a list in hand. She seemed to be in a good mood; a light smile playing on her lips, making her eyes sparkle.

"Don't be worried. I will stop storming in like that once the two of you are married and raising an adolescent together."

Jane rolled her eyes at her mother's comment then buried her face into her hands. If she was hoping herself to have fun playing the married life with Maura, it seemed like her mother had succumbed – without any warning – to an enthusiasm that confused Jane heavily.

"It'll be fake, ma'. I doubt you'll ever walk in on us going..." Nervous, Jane started moving around on her stool. "Well, you know what." Way too embarrassed to even suggest such a thing to her mother, Jane just made a vague gesture of the hand before focusing back on the pictures.

"But still. Nobody walks in uninvited at a young married couple's house." Angela turned around to look for Maura's support. As the scientist nodded politely, the matriach waved the sheet of paper she had in hand. "This form is very informative – great job from the association – but I have one question."

Jane snorted. She raised an eyebrow at her mother in disbelief then walked to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. She was thirsty. And hungry.

"Only one, you're sure? Then that's some kind of miracle, ma'."

Angela preferred to ignore her daughter's tone of voice and addressed the medical examiner instead.

"On this form, it says that you have been married to Jane for three years. Don't you think it's... A bit too much? Too long?"

Maura had moved to the piano. She let her fingers brush the keys quietly. She knew that Jane didn't play anymore but she heavily regretted it. She hadn't insisted when her friend had told her so but in her fantasies – the ones she kept for herself – Maura would have loved Jane to play something just for her.

Chopin would be her first choice, then maybe Ravel.

Seeing that Angela was looking at her in the expectation of a reply, Maura shook her head politely then smiled.

"What is wrong about it? We met five years ago – which is true – and two years later we decided to get married. It sounds like the perfect amount of time to me."

"Except you don't have children. Don't you think it is a bit weird that a couple who would have been married for three years now doesn't have – at least – a baby? I know that my generation is not at all like yours but still... Three years and no kids?"

Jane repressed a moan of agony. Even in a ficticious life, her mother was obsessed with the idea of having grandchildren. What was wrong with her?

"Easy." Maura shrugged and finished her glass. "We are about to take the decision to have a child and welcoming a foreign student for a while is a nice way for us to see what kind of parents Jane and I would be."

Angela opened her mouth to reply – or better said to protest – but finally remained quiet.

Maura's explanation was fair enough, especially seeing how demanding her and Jane's respective jobs could be. Considering their age, they weren't precocious at all. Almost forty years old and not even a real wedding in view.

The matriarch nodded and settled on a stood next to her daughter.

"I see that you have thought about everything already, Maura. How useful." She focused back on her daughter and snapped her should for attention. "Do you know the file enough, Jane?"

"It's not a poem I'm supposed to tell in front of the class, ma'... But yeah, I do. Let's see." Jane looked straight in front of her as if to concentrate a maximum. "Margot, sixteen years old from Bordeaux... Wants to be a librarian – that's for Maura – and wants to attend a baseball game while in Boston – that's for me. Her favorite movie is _Amelie_ – how cliché is that? - and she doesn't like cauliflower which I totally understand. I guess that's it. No allergy, nothing special."

Angela turned her head around to get Maura's approval. The blonde nodded, medical files in hand. Sadly, she couldn't push her job aside to focus on Margot's arrival only. She had reports to revise – articles to proofread – and a couple of students' resume to go through.

Adolescent or not at home, the chief medical examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts still had a lot of work to do.

"You haven't walked Jo Friday yet, Jane. What are you waiting for? For her to pee again on my expensive alpaga carpet?"

"It only happened once, Maura..." Back on the contemplation of the pictures, Jane vaguely pointed out at the stairs. "She's having fun with Bass in the laundry room. Let the kids play for a while. There's no harm..."

The honey blonde snorted, suddenly offended. Lips pursed – files clutched to her chest tightly – she shook her head and turned on her heels.

"This carpet costs twice your salary, Jane. Twice."

The brunette raised her hands in the air as if to abdicate. She stood up and walked to the lobby to grab her dog's leash. It was cold, outside. Cold and rainy. She didn't want to leave the comfort of Maura's warm house.

Before her daughter's obvious lack of enthusiasm, Angela burst out laughing and shook her head.

"You two surely know how to behave like a married couple already. No need to be worried, your lie will pass completely unnoticed!"


	3. Welcome to Boston

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews, it's always nice to have feedbacks (please don't kill each other either).**_

**Chapter two: Welcome to Boston**

The ride from the airport had been an interesting combination of silences and awkward comments followed by timid smiles; attempts to hold conversations in spite of everything.

They just needed time.

As Maura walked downstairs to the kitchen after having left Margot unpack in her bedroom, the scientist nodded at nobody but herself then repeated the sentence in her head like a mantra.

They just needed time, to learn about each other and move on from the awkwardness of the beginning.

"She seems to be a nice girl."

Sitting on one of the stools by the kitchen counter, Jane nodded at the comment then grabbed an apple. The piece of fruit was barely inches away from her mouth when Maura snapped her hand in disapproval.

"Jane! We are having dinner within an hour. Don't you think you can wait until then instead of getting a snack now and be less hungry later on?"

The Italian rolled her eyes and let go of the apple. She hadn't assumed that moving in with Maura – even if only temporarily – would remind her so much of her years of cohabitation with her parents; mostly with her mother.

Small wonder why she and Maura both got along: they were exactly alike.

_Ain't you lucky, Rizzoli... After the mother, the 'wife'. There has to be a pattern or something._

"A piece of fruit? You're really going to scold me for a piece of fruit? Isn't it a healthy snack? Then you should be happy! I'd have gone for Nutella, you know."

Maura snorted and poured herself a glass of wine before getting a bottle of beer out of the fridge for Jane.

"As if you had a chance to have Nutella in this house... I know what kind of food makes it here, Jane."

The brunette smirked rather mischievously. She was in a playful mood. She hadn't insisted much at the airport because of the amount of families that had been waiting for the students but she felt ready to go on Maura's nerves for the role her friend pushed her to play.

"That you think."

But before Maura had a chance to ask for any further explanation, someone cleared her voice in Jane's back and made her turn around. Margot was back downstairs; obviously done with her suitcases.

"Do you wanna fruit juice?" Jane raised a hand in the air to apologize. She was talking way too fast and didn't articulate enough. "You. Drink. Something...? Drink?"

Maura's scoff made her frown. What had she done again that her friend could judge as wrong?

"Margot is here to improve her English, Jane. So please... Make proper sentences." Maura smiled at their guest and opened the fridge to show the teenagers a few bottles. "Orange? Grapefruit?"

"A glass of orange juice would be nice, thank you very much."

Jane stood up and motioned at the living-room. She sat on one of the armchairs and let the couch to Margot. The student seemed nice – definitely more polite than the average teen Jane had ever met – and looked exactly like the picture they had got of her from the association.

A tall brunette, with curly hair. She could have passed for the Italian's daughter any time which made Jane proud, as ridiculous as it could be.

Maura brought the glass of grapefruit juice and put it down on the coffee table. As casually as she could, she then walked to the armchair where Jane was sitting - smiled - and settled on the arm of it before leaning closer to her friend in the hope to give the feeling they were a couple. Under other circumstances, she would have simply sat in another armchair but she was afraid that putting a reasonable distance between her and Jane would seem cold.

"So... Do you have a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend?"

Astonished, Jane turned her head around and stared at Maura feeling nothing but sorry for Margot.

"Why don't you think it's a bit of an intrusive question? Damn, poor her. She doesn't know you that you already ask her about... Private stuff." Jane gave an apologetic smile at the teenager and waved a hand in sympathy. "That was Maura for you. No worries, you'll learn how to live with it."

Margot laughed – amused – and took a sip of her fruit juice before shaking her head at both women.

"I am single for... At? At the moment. I don't have any boyfriend. How did the two of you meet?" The young girl squinted her eyes in an effort of concentration to not make any mistake. She spoke slowly, picking her words with meticulousness.

"Maura and I met at a cafe by our respective workplaces. She assumed I was a whore." Before the teenager's absence of reaction, Jane smiled. "A whore is a prostitute."

"Oh! Now that's... Original...? Why did you think that Jane was a prostitute, Maura?" Margot didn't seem much bothered by the revelation.

Unlike the medical examiner. Maura had turned livid. Mortified, she shot a death glare at her friend and was about to hiss a remark between her clenched teeth when she lost her balance and slipped on the arm of the chair only to land loudly in Jane's arms.

Taken aback by the involuntary move, the detective remained still for a couple of seconds before a smirk played on her lips. She looked up at Margot and winked.

"She needs to slow down on wine." She focused back on Maura who was desperately trying to sit up again. "Right, _honey_?"

Finally finding a semblance of appropriate position and trying to ignore the wave of heat that had rushed up her cheeks, Maura shook her head at Margot then nervously laughed.

"She is joking. I have no alcohol issue at all." The blonde turned her head around and snapped her friend's arm. "What are her parents going to think, Jane? Behave, please!"

"Oh! Speaking of my parents, do you mind if I take a picture of you two? They asked me to do so and to send it to them with my phone."

Jane and Maura nodded, a bit taken aback by the request nonetheless. The scientist was about to sit back on the arm of the chair when Margot interrupted her.

"No, please. Stay in your wife's arms; on her lap. It's cute. My parents are going to love it!"

Maura cast a brief glance at Jane and obliged. She felt a bit embarrassed. At no moment had she assumed that the teenager would ask such a thing. Even less so early in their cohabitation.

"My parents are open-minded people, you know. It's true that it's the first time I get to live with a same-sex couple but they are okay with it and so am I."

Repressing the desire to make a snarky remark, Jane passed an arm around Maura to drag her closer for the picture and smiled.

"Wonderful..."

This time, Maura certainly didn't miss the sarcasm in her friend's reply.

...

Maura trotted to her bedside table and grabbed a small bottle of body lotion. She poured some on her hands then rubbed them together. Their first evening with Margot had gone rather smoothly. The young girl had helped them prepare dinner and then she had taken Jo Friday out with Jane for a walk through the neighborhood. They had an endless list of activities for the weekend but Maura did not want to put pressure on Margot either.

The adolescent was jet lagged, she needed some rest. There was no need for her to get up early the next morning.

"Her English is excellent, don't you think so?" Maura turned to Jane who was already in bed and frowned as her friend opened her arms wide. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure I can properly catch you this time when you try to sit in bed. On my lap."

Maura rolled her eyes – pulled the blanket away – and slipped into bed. She would obviously hear from her armchair mishap for the next six months or so.

"This isn't funny, Jane."

"Oh yes, it is. You know, you just have to ask if you want me to take you in my arms." The Italian's amused tone vanished as soon as she realized what she had just said.

Maura turned around and briefly studied her.

"Really?" Her surprised tone of voice didn't pass unnoticed.

Neither did the awkward silence that followed.

She bit the inside of her cheeks to swallow back a moan of despair. Why were they having such conversation now? Such odd and troubling conversation. They were in bed – in a so-called marital bed – and suddenly their speech seemed to be adopting a very different tone; or at least implicitly.

Playing nervously with her fake wedding band, Maura cleared her voice and lay down as far as she could from her friend. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't have minded being closer to Jane – as it had already happened in the past – but the last two comments had taken her aback to the point she now felt uncomfortable.

"What... What would you like to do, tomorrow? You know... With Margot."

Already settled in to sleep, Jane yawned – shrugged – and closed her eyes. She was tired. The day had been rather exhausting and stressing.

"Dunno yet... We'll see tomorrow. Good night, Maura." She paused - rolled on her side - and smirked. "And don't snore."

The scientist cast a glance at her friend before focusing back on the wall straight in front of her.

"I certainly don't snore, Jane. You do, when exhausted. But this is not about to happen because I am not going to let you sleep until you tell me where you hide this jar of Nutella that you dared to bring into my house."


	4. The Girl With The Tattoo

_**Author's note: thank you very much for the reviews and/or PMs, I appreciate them a lot. And yes, it's Rizzles endgame (but it might take a while to get there; sadly or not, I'm used to writing slow burns).**_

**Chapter three: The Girl With the Tattoo**

"How is... What are you looking for, Rizzoli?" Cavanaugh approached his employee's desk and motioned at the mess on top of it. "What happened there?"

"I'm looking for my wedding ring."

If Jane didn't even think at all about the potential consequences that such comment could cause, her boss reacted very differently to it. Confused, the lieutenant made a step backwards and looked suspiciously at her.

"Your what?"

Jane sighed – straightened back up – and was about to repeat her statement when she realized that Cavanaugh hadn't been told about Maura's latest crazy plan. There was no one to blame though as he had been absent for the past three weeks.

Uncertain of how to bring it up and not at all in the mood for an explanation, she waved at him to forget about it.

"It's a long story and I'm not sure you'll be eager to listen to it but to make it short: I'm somehow married to Maura."

"About time!"

Now that was not the kind of reaction Jane had anticipated. Taken aback at the lieutenant's remark, she shook her head at him and began to laugh. Nervously. Uncontrollably. She had heard about the bets but had simply assumed these were unwarranted rumors about her and Maura.

She worked in an environment dominated by men. Her friendship to the medical examiner was a logical source of ridiculous gossip and she didn't want to pay attention to these. She had better things to do with her time.

"Nope." Nervous laugh again. "Slight misunderstanding, here... I'm not really mar-..."

"Janie! The child you're currently raising with Maura is waiting for you downstairs."

Of course. Not bothering to turn around to face her mother, Jane closed her eyes and took a deep breath instead. She needed ten seconds of peace, if only in her head. First day at work since their foreign student had arrived and she had already lost her wedding ring, getting her boss confused about the whole thing in the process.

Slightly troubled, Cavanaugh made a step forward – as if to create a semblance of intimacy – and squinted his eyes at her. He lowered his voice just as a nervous smile appeared on his face.

"What happened here while I was in Washington?"

...

"Hey! How was your first day at school?" Jane grabbed Margot by the shoulders and rushed her out on the street. She didn't want to spend one more second inside the BPD building. Not after the very awkward conversation she had just had with Cavanaugh. "Did you make friends and all?"

The French girl didn't seem to mind Jane's behavior at all and followed her towards the Subaru. She looked happy, rather pleased with the way things that had turned in so far.

The weekend had gone fast but these two days had been perfect for the three of them to get to know each other better and the awkwardness of the beginning now seemed to belong to the past. Jane and Maura had even had time to teach the student how to take the subway by herself which Margot was very proud of.

"Yes, very much. Although... I have to admit that American schools are very different!"

Jane started the engine and drove away with relief. First day: over.

The diamonds of her wedding band caught the sunlight. She was glad to have found it back at the last minute but would have to find another place where to put it while at work the next time. A Red Sox box lost at the bottom of a drawer was apparently not the best idea she had ever had.

"How come? You don't have cheerleaders and science geeks in France? Maura was a science geek. Well... She's still one, let's face it."

Her head leaned against the car window – observing the streets of Boston speeding past in front of her – Margot giggled and shook her head.

"No, not really. I mean it's different. We don't have cheerleaders... We don't have a football team... But we have more homework. Also, it's cool to finish school so early. It's going to be hard for me when I go back to Bordeaux because the school day is a lot longer in France."

If she had had doubts when Maura had set out her plan, Jane had to admit that she kind of liked the idea, now.

Margot's presence into her life – into _their_ life – brought an unexpected sweetness to it, some fresh air they might have both needed without even realizing it. It was easy to let life carry you into its whirl of stress and forget about the rest.

Way too easy.

"I never studied abroad so I can't compare but I know Maura went to a Swiss boarding school and it was a lot tougher than what I went through, here. And yet I was with the nuns! She must... Is that a tattoo on your ankle?"

Trying to remain focused on the road, Jane cast a second glance at Margot's leg. The teenager was wearing a skirt and had just moved on her seat in a way that had allowed the Italian to have a fuller view on her ankle.

"Yes. It is a present I got when I turned fifteen! A present from my parents. I had wanted one since... Forever! It is my name, in Japanese characters. Do you like it?"

Red light. Jane turned around – glad to bond with Margot during their ride back to Beacon Hill – and leaned over to observe the tattoo a bit more closely. She whistled in approval.

"You're lucky to have open-minded parents. Mine always refused I got one and now it's Maura who leads that little tattoo war."

Jane's laugh fell flat as she realized that she hadn't stopped alluding to her friend since they had left the BPD. What was going on? Was she unable to hold a conversation without mentioning Maura at some point? The thought itself made her feel uncomfortable. She tightened her grip on the steering-wheel and preferred not to add anything.

"Really?" Margot sounded surprised. "Why is Maura against it? She has one herself. It's not fair at all!"

The statement made Jane lose control of the steering-wheel for a couple of seconds just as the first streets of Beacon Hill appeared in front her. The car deviated slightly.

"Oh... She really told you she had one?" She coughed to hide her surprise.

Maura hadn't told her that she had a tattoo but since she was supposed to be her wife to Margot's eyes, she had no choice but to play a safer card with the adolescent. It was the kind of detail about her wife that she couldn't ignore.

"Yes. She told me about it yesterday at the museum when we were waiting for you. You had gone to the bathroom...?"

Jane nodded slowly and pretended to be focused on the road when the only thing she had in mind was her friend's tattoo. Where was it, exactly? She had seen her in a bikini - in her underwear - and hadn't spotted any.

As a conclusion came easily to her mind, Jane blushed and bit her lips.

_Oh boy._

"And... Ahem... She told you what it was? And... And where it was...?" Playing it casual. This was how she had to do. Comforted by the idea, Jane relaxed a bit and even allowed herself to smile. "I am surprised she let you know. It's not something many people know about her."

"A mandala on her... Down there... By there." Margot vaguely motioned at her pelvis. "She had to explain to me what a mandala is because I didn't know. So why can't you have one if she has one? Does she regret it?"

Jane cut the engine after parking the car on the right street and looked straight in front of her. Now that was an excellent question. As a matter of fact, the bunch of information she had just gathered about Maura's tattoo would probably make her evening.

The devilish plan that began to form in her head echoed the smirk that was now playing on her lips. Oh yes. She would have a blast once her friend was home.

"Maura..." Jane sighed. As a matter of fact, she didn't have any fair explanation to give. Even if they had really been married, she still could have decided what to do with her own body. _You are whipped, Rizzoli. Damn... Congrats. _"She's a bacteria freak and there's not a single tattoo place in Boston she'd let me go to because they're not clean enough."

Lame excuse but she hadn't found any better – nor plausible – explanation to give. Margot seemed satisfied of it anyway.

She followed Jane to the door and happily welcomed a jumpy Jo Friday just as they came in. Jane dropped her keys on the console table before walking to the kitchen. She had not left work that early in months. It was almost strange to be home – or better said, Maura's home – before nightfall.

They had tried to coordinate their schedules to make sure that Margot would always have someone around. At least Jane's mother. Luckily enough, Jane wasn't working on any big case right now which gave her all the time to hang around with the teenager and ultimately plot her tattoo attack against Maura.

There was no way that she would let this piece of information die so easily. It was gold.

_Speaking of the devil... _Jane took her cell phone out of her pocket and opened the text message that her friend had sent her.

_Chinese take outs, tonight?_

_M._

"Do you like Chinese food, Margot?"

The teenager walked to the kitchen where Jane was standing – Jo Friday in her arms – and enthusiastically nodded at her.

_That's a deal, Little Buddha._

_J._

Mandala tattoo war: officially declared. Jane rubbed her hands together, delighted at her best.


	5. You Can Kiss The Bride

_**Author's note: thank you for the reviews!**_

**Chapter four: You Can Kiss The Bride**

"That's why I now ask my assistant to double-check the negatoscope before us to start any autopsy."

Maura's giggles turned into laughter as soon as she looked at Jane and caught the glimpse of a very contagious smile on her lips. It was an old story and she hadn't told it to anyone for a long time but apparently, none of them had forgotten about it. How could they, anyway? Dr. Pike had been knocked out by the machine in question.

Margot laughed heartedly as well. They were having a nice pizza evening out in Boston after having gone to the movies. The French girl had only arrived six days earlier but her integration had gone smoothly and the three of them could now fully enjoy their time together. Jane and Maura didn't feel like parenting Margot. The relation they were building with her was different - hard to describe - but very pleasant.

"How's your pizza? Good? I like it here. Cool people, great food." Jane grabbed a slice of her very own pepperoni pizza and bit into it. "This cheese is so heaven, Maura. You don't know what you're missing. How do you even dare to get one with artichoke as a topping? It's a crime."

"Vegetables are good for our health."

Jane widened her eyes and stared at Margot as if she had lost her mind. What on earth was that? She could not live with Maura and a mini-Maura for the next two months.

"No, no, no. You can't say that. Not when you're sixteen years old. Junk food is your life."

"Jane!" But the lightness of Maura's voice only showed her complete absence of annoyance. Just like the smile on her face. "Margot is a very reasonable person. You should actually follow her example..."

"Oh please. It'd be boring if I did. Admit it, _honey_." She smirked, knowing beforehand how such a name would go on her friend's nerves. "You love it when I break the rules."

"And there I was... Thinking that you only did that in the hope to get a good spanking."

Jane choked on her slice of pizza and – as if Maura had suddenly decided to get her revenge after days of teasing – the scientist squeezed her thigh with her hand. A tender gesture in appearance but a move that actually made Jane freeze.

_You're a cool cat, Rizzoli. Prove it._

"Two words, Maura: mandala power."

_Or just fight back. Yeah. Whatever._

Maura blushed. Jane had had a blast on Monday with her tattoo. Allusions had been going on for hours before she had finally admitted that Margot had accidentally let her know about it. The teasing hadn't stopped, though. Even after the scientist had explained her that she had got it during a trip to India.

The kiss came out of the blue and resounded loud – almost too much – in the restaurant. As Jane's lips made contact with her cheek, Maura froze. The touch had been extremely brief yet long enough to stir up something strange in her body; an odd chemical reaction. Warm feelings. Very uncertain of the way she had to handle these, Maura locked her eyes with Margot and deliberately ignored her friend. Why had she done that? They didn't have to kiss. They didn't have to go that far.

"A kiss!" Margot clapped her hands in delight. "You don't like kissing... Kisses? You never kiss."

An uncomfortable silence seemed to float over their table. A baby started crying in the room, chairs got moved. Life was going on.

If Jane and Maura had the sensation that the world had stopped turning, it was just an illusion. People were still coming and going – all around them – laughing and conversing; not even aware of what had happened. They couldn't care less. It was a detail, something pointless.

"You know... I'm fine with... With the idea of two women being together. You don't have to repress it because I'm here. You don't have to hide." Margot took another bite of her pizza.

Jane pursed her lips. She wasn't in the mood to tease Maura anymore. The tattoo and the pet names were long gone, now.

She was fine with the idea of pretending to be married to her friend – as weird as the plan was – but gestures of affection were not part of what she had had in mind. The mere thought made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

She had nothing against same-sex couples but she didn't want to give reason to rumors about her and Maura; especially as it was all a lie. She couldn't do that.

"We met five years ago, you know. We work together, we spend a lot of time together. Every single day of our lives... So... We don't need... We don't feel the urge to... I mean... Jane knows how much she means to me. I don't need to repeat it to her all the time." Maura looked at her friend and grabbed her hand to hold it tight. "Am I right, dear?"

Boldness. Unless she was simply loosening it a bit. Whatever caused Maura's next gesture – a kiss on Jane's hand while she had locked her eyes with her friend's – it changed the pace of the evening.

Not in a bad way. But still... The lightness of their conversations seemed to echo the singularity of troubling reactions that none of them would ever dare to admit.

...

"Am I supposed to call you Dr. Rizzoli-Isles? Unless it should be Isles-Rizzoli?"

The stomach slipped through her fingers. Leaned over the corpse, Maura grabbed back the organ and simply shook her head at Susie. Margot would come to pick her up later in the afternoon and the medical examiner had assumed that it was safer to let a few of members of her team know about her fake marriage.

She just hadn't assumed that it would raise so many questions.

"Where... Where are the bowel scissors?"

The senior criminalist grabbed the metallic item Maura had previously dropped on the table by the dead's head and waved it.

"There...?"

A mere remark. It wasn't the end of the world. Margot had made a remark – a fair one, besides – but it had been enough to obstruct the smoothness of her so-called marriage to Jane.

They hadn't talked much once back home, had barely exchanged a few words about random things before heading to bed in an utter silence. Their gestures and remarks had troubled them and now it weighed a lot on Maura's mind.

It was her project, her crazy idea. Jane had been nice enough to accept it but she didn't have to go as far as kissing her and – most of all – she, Maura, should not have reacted the way she had. Why had she kissed her friend's hand? It was the most uncongruous move she had ever made.

As a scientist, she couldn't lack logic. Yet she completely had on this.

The doors of the autopsy room flew opened and Jane stormed in, a couple of papers in hand. She slowed down her pace as soon as she saw her friend and looked aside; embarrassed.

"Sorry to interrupt you but the association has just sent me this email and they had to reschedule the family evening thing. It's not on Saturday anymore. It takes place tonight."

The stomach landed on the floor rather loudly.

"Are you alright, Dr. Isles-Riz-... Dr. Riz-... Dr. Isles?" Susie immediately grabbed it back and went to clean it. Her boss' gesture had taken her aback. Maura was known for being meticulous and very careful with the dead bodies.

"Yes, I am... I am fine...?" Maura's unconvinced tone of voice betrayed her real feelings. She took her latex gloves off and grabbed the papers that Jane was holding out to her.

If she had never liked last-minute changes, this one was particularly bad. She had hoped for a little break – a needed one – after the oddness of the day before at the pizzeria but the association didn't see it the same way at all.

She and Jane would have to play the perfect couple, in front of everyone. Complete strangers. It was what the evening was about: introducing each other as a family to get to know all the couples better. She sighed, not hiding her obvious annoyance.

"Will you be able to make it for 8pm?"

Jane nodded – crossed her arms against her chest – and motioned at the doors with her head. She turned on her heels, ready to leave.

"Text me if you want me to buy something on my way; a cake, whatever." She was about to push the doors of the room again when a detail caught her attention. "You're still wearing your wedding band, even when Margot's not around?"

The diamonds had caught the neon light as Maura had moved slightly on her right. Jane knew for a fact that her friend usually took all her jewels off before an autopsy. Why had she kept this one on? It didn't mean the slightest thing at all and Margot wouldn't burst into the room any time soon.

"Oh." Shrug. "I don't know. I guess... I guess that I am getting used to it." Maura's laugh filled the room, carried by an invisible force. Against all expectations, she abandoned herself to it. She needed to. "What can I say? I don't have any Red Sox box where to put it while at work."

Jane hesitated for a few seconds before finally smiling at the remark.

Perhaps she had been a bit too tough with Maura these past few days; too much teasing. Yet she was glad to see that her friend was finally giving into it as well, really glad because something told her that they would need it in order to face the stress of the situation better.


	6. Pastries, Ducks and Pictures

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews!**_

**Chapter five: Pastries, Ducks and Pictures**

"Maura?" Jane waited for a few seconds and only once she was sure her friend paid attention to her did she ask her a question. "What are these called again? I always forget."

Maura leaned on her tiptoes to check the plate.

"The chocolate ones are _pains au chocolat_."

Jane nodded and whispered the word again before grabbing one of the homemade pastries. She was about to bite into it when Maura pushed her away from the counter immediately and landed angry eyes on her.

"Can't you just wait for Margot to be here? Give it back to me. Come on! Give it back to me." She held out a hand and tried to look menacingly at Jane.

Complete fail. The brunette laughed and made a sideways step to escape from her friend but Maura was fast enough to pin her against the kitchen counter. Roles reversed. She smirked.

"I won't repeat it twice: put this _pain au chocolat_ down immediately or..."

"Or what?" Jane raised a mischievous eyebrow. She was in the mood for some challenge and it seemed like her friend had just brought her one on a silver plater. Or a ceramic plate as it happened. Whatever. Perfect way to start a 'family' weekend, anyway. "You will spank me?"

Maura made a step forward and stood so close to Jane that she could feel the heat of her body on hers, the way her chest moved up and down following the pace of her heartbeats. She carefully leaned her hands on both sides as if to secure the area – to get Jane trapped in her arms – and came closer to her friend's face; her lips so close to Jane's that she could feel her breath coming by waves against her mouth.

"Good morning! I... Oh my god!" Margot put a hand in front of her mouth and raised the other one in a gesture of apology. She then made a step backwards, her giggles filling the kitchen warmly. "I didn't mean to interrupt you. I can... I can come back."

The remark made Jane and Maura frown – look at each other – then suddenly take their distance as they realized what the adolescent meant. They rushed separate ways.

"Hey, do you want a _pain au chocolat_? Maura... Maura baked them!" Jane grabbed the plate with the pastries on it and held it out to Margot.

"A what?"

The Italian looked down at the viennoiseries with perplexity.

Had she got it wrong again? Unless it was her quite approximate pronunciation? She pointed out the plate and began to stutter, too afraid to repeat the word in French. Maura thankfully stepped in to get her out of this linguistic nightmare.

"_Pains au chocolat_?"

"Oh!" Margot grabbed one and walked to one of the stools. "These are _chocolatines_ where I live but nice try, Jane! If I were from Paris, I would have understood. Your French is good."

Jane put the plate down on the kitchen counter. She looked a tad upset. For once she made an effort and spoke French, she had got it wrong. Because of Maura. She shot a death glare at her friend.

"Aren't you supposed to know that? Your parents have a house near Bordeaux. Do you never go to the bakery when you visit them?"

"You don't go to France with Maura?"

Since the medical examiner had only shrugged away her comment, Jane turned around and looked at Margot. Butter knife in hand, the adolescent was smiling at her obviously waiting for a reply.

"What do you mean?"

Margot chuckled. Her big green eyes studied Jane from head to toe as if she had lost her mind or spoken Greek to her but before the detective's honest confusion, the French girl looked at Maura in need of an explanation.

"You don't spend your holidays together? You're married but you don't... You don't do that?!" Her perplexity made her voice raise an octave.

"Oh that. Oh well... Yes, of course we do. It's just... Ahem... Maura?"

That was low but the truth was that Jane hadn't found any excuse yet. It was too early in the morning for her brain to work out properly and elaborate evil schemes about a so-called married life.

"You are right, Margot. You are... Right." Maura put the coffee pot on the counter - very slowly - and nodded at the girl. "I never had a chance to take Jane to Dordogne yet but... Hopefully, I will. You know... One day."

"Maura's parents' house out there is going under works anyway. Nobody puts me on an eight-hour flight to go camping in... In the South of France."

Lame excuse but at least she had found one. More or less satisfied of it, Jane grabbed back her _pain au chocolat_ and finally bit into it.

...

Boston Common turned out to be packed in spite of the low temperatures and the icy wind that was blowing a bit too hard for Maura's taste.

She would have preferred to go to Cambridge or to see an exhibition but Margot had insisted and – since she was their guest – she had got the last word on their Saturday afternoon activities.

"You are going to scare these ducks, Jane. Leave them alone." Maura's laugh rose in the sky as she approached her friend and shook her head at her.

Jane had squatted by the pond and was now so focused on the ducks at her feet that she didn't pay attention at all to the loud frenzy around her: children playing with a ball, families and joggers passing by.

"I guess one of them has a broken leg, Maura."

The scientist bent over and – her curiosity piqued – squinted her eyes at the animals. Too late. She barely had time to feel Jane's arms grab her waist that she was lifted in the air just above the rather cold waters of the pond. Margot burst out laughing somewhere on her right.

"Jane! What are you doing? Are you crazy? Put me down immediately!"

"I don't know, _sweetie_... I kind of like the idea of watching you go for a swim. What do you think, Margot?" Jane winked at the teenager and tightened her grip on Maura. "Will you stop kicking me in the legs? What kind of wife I got, exactly?"

"Put me down! How dare you... Put me down, I tell you! Put me down or..."

Second threat of the day. The first one had been followed by awkwardness and a lame explanation to the reason why Jane didn't know Maura's parents' house in Dordogne. They couldn't repeat their morning scene now.

"I don't know what you think, Margot, but I guess it's the perfect time to see if Maura handles one of my infamous tickle attacks."

"No! No, no, no, no, no! Not that! Jane! Don't..." Her friend barely had time to let her fingers run on her sides that Maura burst out laughing and kicked harder. She cast a glance at Margot. "You are not making a video, are you?"

"Oh no!"

Maura smiled of relief.

"I am taking pictures."

Smile: gone. Same for her laugh as Jane started making her swing back and forth above the waters. She wasn't going to do it, was she? But Maura didn't have time to complain anew. Her friend made one step backwards and lost her balance. They both fell on the floor; on top of each other.

"Fantastic, Jane. Really." Yet unable to remain serious and angry, Maura laughed lightly. She stood up and helped her friend to do the same. People were looking at them. She raised a hand at their audience. "We are fine, thank you."

Fine but humiliated.

Furious - and yet extremely amused - Maura turned her back at her friend.

"Jane Clementine Rizzoli, I hate you."

The Italian adjusted her clothes in silence. Her hair was a mess and her cheeks were red. Without any warning, she passed a hand on Maura's waist to bring her a bit closer and murmured to her ear.

"Watch out. You're gonna break into hives."

Fair point but Maura didn't say it. Instead, she decided to have a look at the pictures that Margot had taken. The French girl was still laughing. At least she and Jane were entertaining; in their own way.

"You're the cutest couple ever! Look at this one. Come over here, Jane. Have a look. You both look so in love on this pic!"

The comment made both women freeze.

Margot didn't do it on purpose but she hadn't stopped with these embarrassing allusions and it was becoming really hard for Jane and Maura to face them without an ounce of guilt and shame. Although there was something more, this time.

Something that none of them wanted to hear.

"It is a nice picture, you are right." The medical examiner straightened up and motioned the path on their right. She didn't want to stay in Boston Common anymore. She needed to go away and now. "Hot chocolate, anyone? I am dying for one myself."

She had seen the picture; the way she and Jane were looking at each other on it. And for this exact reason, she was desperately seeking for some distance with it. The discomfort it had stirred up plunged her in a blurry silence made of hesitations, incomprehensions. What was going on?

_You can thank Jane again. Look at her. She is taking care of Margot when you are unable to say the mere word. You owe her so much, Isles. So much._

Maura smiled at them as they both looked at her. She envied Jane for being able to pretend as well as she did.

The Italian didn't react dramatically, unlike her. She knew how to take distance with things. Maura was too litteral. She had always been. And nobody could imagine how much she was suffering from it.

_Come on. Go. Do it._

She approached Jane without a word and took her hand in hers to hold it tight. The gesture made Margot smile.


	7. A French Conspiracy

_**Author's note: thank you/gracias/merci for all the reviews and suggestions.**_

_**- I didn't get a beta nor a better grammar checker, I am just less sick**_

_**- I don't know yet when they are going to kiss but they will**_

_**- I was very distracted when writing the following chapter b/c I was following the events that hit Paris - the city where I live - and people I consider as colleagues since I am a journalist too so I apologize if today's chapter isn't that great**_

**Chapter six: A French Conspiracy**

As Maura tried to adjust her shirt for the thousandth time within a minute, Jane pushed her away and moved her chair a bit further on her left. She then focused back on the computer and waited in silence for the Skype connection.

The last time she had reached such level of nervousness had been when she had met Maura's mother.

After all the things her friend had told her about the artist, Jane had started having doubts about herself and her own ability to reach the Isles' standards. Time had proved her wrong but her stress was nonetheless back, now.

Within a few seconds now, she would meet Margot's parents and lie. Over and over.

She had woken up feeling remorseful towards the entire world. What she had taken at first as a game was turning little by little into a bitter farce because she had become attached to Margot and to a lot of people she had met through this experience: other parents, people in charge of the association. It had barely been a week but her lack of honesty was weighing on her already. Could her fake marriage hurt them?

_Alright. It's show time._

A couple in their fifties appeared on the screen. They looked nice and friendly, sitting in what seemed to be a living-room full of books and modern paintings. Jane avoided Maura's gaze at all costs but grabbed her hand nonetheless. Then - as if she had been doing it all her life - she smiled and played the wife card.

"_Bonjour_...?" She timidly waved at them and straightened up. Perhaps Maura had been right to ask her to put on less casual clothes. She had to look presentable. After all, she had never had the chance to talk with Margot's parents before and she knew from experience how important the first impression could be.

"They speak English, Jane. That's fine. You don't have to do it in French!" Margot laughed before turning back to the screen to speak way too fast for Jane to understand the slightest word.

Meanwhile, Maura was following the verbal exchange with an obvious pleasure; laughing at what must have been jokes, nodding when required. Jane smirked: the straight A's student was back in full mode. She repressed a yawn after what seemed an eternity in a foreign language.

"Jane?"

Maura. The scientist's voice took her out of her daydreams. A bit too late, though. She and Margot were staring at her in the expectation of something she completely ignored. What had she missed again? What had happened?

Her eyes landed on the image of the French girl's parents on the computer screen. They were looking straight at her as well with the same expression on their face.

_Oh, awesome. See? Sister Catherine was right when saying you had your head in the clouds and that it would cause you damage one day. You didn't want to believe her? Well, here's the 'one day'. Good luck._

"Ye-... Oui...?" Her nervous laugh fell flat and only when she heard Maura moan did she realize she had been crushing her hand of anxiety. "Oh shit! Sorry, Maur'. I mean..." Time to pretend to be interested. She leaned over and nodded at Margot's parents. "Yes?"

"They asked you if you had liked the wine Margot offered us." Maura smiled politely at the screen while whispering to her friend between clenched teeth.

They obviously needed to rehearse if they wanted to look like the perfect couple.

"Oh... Thumb up! Thumb up! _Très très bon, oui_!* Ahem... _Merci beaucoup. Je... Aimer*_... Whatever. I loved it. It was really good. Thanks a lot, guys."

...

"I like this color better. It suits you."

The compliment warmed up Maura's heart. She grabbed the bottle of nail varnish that Margot was holding out to her and opened it. She didn't have a lot of experience with teenagers and was immensely glad to see that things were not going too bad with their host. It was a daily personal challenge.

"_Vert émeraude_*, right?" She applied a first layer on her tiptoe and pouted admiring the result. "I like it too. Thank you very much."

"Maura...? When did you realize that you were in love with Jane?"

Needless to say that the second layer turned out to be a disaster. Half of the varnish landed on the bedsheet under the effect of surprise. Mortified, Maura looked all around for a tissue thanking in silence her long hair that covered now her face. Her cheeks were burning and her hands were moist. Good thing she was on her bed or else she might have fallen down unexpectedly.

Her reaction made Margot giggle.

"You are timid, aren't you? That's why you don't kiss Jane much? Or that you... That you turn red when I ask you about your feelings?"

Maura observed the bottle of nail varnish for a long moment. The rain was falling down against the window. She could hear the wind blow hard; the branches of the trees fold. A real storm. Jane had left an hour or so earlier to run a few errands. She would be back any time soon, now.

"What pushed you to go to India? Don't take it bad but you don't look like the kind of person who leaves with a backpack and that's what you told me the last time we talked about your tattoo."

The second question forced Maura to look up. She locked her eyes with Margot and felt the bitterness of a smile curl up her lips. Yet she ended up shrugging, not too sure what to reply.

It might have been crazy but – deep inside – she still preferred to give a semblance of explanation to the first question instead. The second one was very personal. And yet...

"For a girl."

She had never said it to anyone. Her parents had probably guessed by then but they had never made any specific remark at the time, even less when she had come back and moved to Boston to start college. A phase. They had probably seen it as a phase, something that wouldn't last. They had been right.

To an extent.

"Jane doesn't know?" Margot sounded worried for the very first time; worried and confused. She had tilted her head and squinted her eyes at Maura. "You don't talk about your exes with her? Never?"

Maura shook her head. She had folded the tissue so many times now that it had turned hard and painful to hold. She let go of it.

"Not about this one. She knows for the other ones, just not for... Not for Dharma."

Margot grabbed her hand to squeeze it then winked with all the ligthness a sixteen-year-old could have. She didn't look judgemental. Not the slightest bit.

"Don't be worried, I won't tell her anything. We all have our... _Jardin secret, non_?*"

"Why are you speaking French? Plotting against me?" Leaned against the door, Jane smiled before finally walking in. She dropped a plastic bag on the bed and wrinkled her nose. "Gosh it stinks! I hate nail varnish! On the bed, besides? Ugh." She grabbed a pillow and threw it at Maura. "Cold treatment, tonight."

"Like every single night. Your feet are icy, Jane. It isn't very... Very pleasing!"

Maura's giggles made Jane's embarrassment reach a new level. As if caught in the act, she vehemently shook her head at Margot to deny such attack.

"Wow. I go out while it's pouring just to bring back these cookies you are craving for and... And this is how you welcome me back home, Maura? Well, thank you!"

Margot burst out laughing. She grabbed a bottle of nail varnish – shook it – and pointed out Jane's feet.

"I don't mind if they're cold. It's your turn, now. You like the color?"

Glad to see that at least one person in the room didn't try to mock her, Jane nodded and unfolded her legs. Jo Friday jumped on the bed – trotted to her – then sat on her lap. She caressed the dog and let a strange feeling take possession of her, something she had never experienced before.

A sentiment of belonging to the moment; to feel at peace, and loved. She wasn't with her relatives but she still had the feeling to currently be part of a family. Her very own one.

"Now give me some chocolates. I've had a stressful Sunday: first a whole Skype convo in French – then the rain – and now an extremely unfair comment about my feet that are not cold. They aren't, right, Margot?" Jane gasped in horror before Margot's silence. "Oh my God. This is a conspiracy... I knew that you two were plotting against me."

"Oh, not at all. We were just talking about your honeymoon."

Margot's comment got the effect of a very cold shower on Jane. She immediately stopped any kind of dramatic gesture and froze instead. The house turned silent, echoing the sound of the rain on the windows in her back. She swallowed hard, pursed her lips. Had Maura really managed to lie during her absence? She doubted so.

The Maura she knew couldn't do that because if she had had, then she would have already been rushed to the ER.

"Really...?" Her usual hoarse voice raised at least three octaves.

Silence. Why did nobody want to talk anymore? Maura looked impassive while Margot seemed resigned and maybe a tad embarrassed. Jane swallowed hard.

"Oh my God."

One. Two. Three.

Margot her tongue - pointed out Jane with her index finger - and burst out laughing.

"Gotcha!"

...

*Very very good, yes... Thank you very much... I... To love

*Emerald green

*Private world/inner sanctum


	8. Thank You

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the messages of support and reviews**_

**Chapter seven: Thank You**

"How's the married life going?"

Korsak walked to Jane's desk to offer her a donut. She gladly accepted it then raised an eyebrow at her colleague. Resigned. She felt resigned.

She had arrived late, this morning. Her car had refused to start and – as if it were not enough – it was her turn to drop Margot at school. If this was what being a mother looked like then she wasn't sure at all to feel like living it one day.

"Well, let's see..." She leaned back on her chair and sighed. "I'm that close to give up on the idea of eating anywhere else but above the sink because when I leave crunches on the couch Maura's voice reaches decibels that only dolphins can hear. I've just remembered it was my turn today to do a load of laundry but I forgot which means I can say goodbye to peanut butter for the next three days because Maura is going to be furious. I..."

Korsak raised a hand to interrupt her. Jane obliged. The list was non-exhaustive, anyway. She could have gone on and on about her brand new life in Beacon Hill. The sergeant nodded apologetically.

"Yep. No doubt. You're married."

A smirk curled up Jane's lips. The truth was that it wasn't as painful as she described it. The fact her friend was a control freak wasn't new and she had known since the beginning that it would turn this way.

Details here and there made the experience sweet; attentions from Maura and Margot. Most of the time, the house was filled with laughter and smiles. Their trio was a great one.

She would miss it once it was over. She was certain of that.

"It's a fake marriage. Maura and I aren't married." She tilted her head then rolled her eyes. Every single day, she had to face the same remarks. Her colleagues were having a blast. "And whoever started saying we tied the knot in Vegas is a dead man. Stop with the rumors already!"

If only a good case landed on her desk; the kind that got her focused almost day and night. Sadly, the past few weeks had been extremely quiet and she spent her hours at the BPD doing what she hated the most: paperwork.

_Not even a single trial, nothing. Fate's against you, Rizzoli._

"You're back on the Whiteman case, Rizzoli. Suspicious marks got found on the victim's wrists."

Mouth full of donut, Jane looked up at Cavanaugh in surprise. She hadn't heard him come in. Her brain analyzed the information and once she was sure of what her boss had said, she frowned at him.

"Who said that?"

The lieutenant shrugged – winked at Korsak – then walked away towards his own office.

"Your wife."

...

"You know that it is supposed to be a date night. I mean, that's how Margot saw it."

"Yeah, she was uber excited about it and she forced me to put on this dress. Don't you think she's a bit obsessed with... Us... As a couple...? I never got thrilled when my parents had a date or something. Did you?"

Maura's eyes landed on the screen. The lights were still on and people were coming in. For the first time in a long while, they hadn't arrived late at the movies. The date was historical. She picked some popcorn and shook her head.

She had hesitated before making the remark about Margot but she had found the girl's reaction cute enough to mention it. Margot had clapped her hands and jumped around when Jane had announced that she would go out with Maura.

An evening with Angela apparently didn't scare the teenager.

"I don't think so. You see, I guess that she doesn't see us as... Parental substitutes... We are more like her aunts." Satisfied of her explanation, Maura smiled. "Yes. The cool aunts. This is us!"

Jane knew better than to make any remark regarding the adjective used by her friend. She was not sure that Maura could really fit in the 'cool' category, especially when there were crunches around.

"Maybe we're a bit lame at this game, Maura. Maybe... Maybe she has doubts about us. Damn and now she's alone with ma'. We all know what that means. When we're back, Margot will be all about babies and shit. We're screwed. I tell you. We're screwed..." Jane squinted her eyes as her own words echoed in her head. "Hey, why not running away? We don't have to come back home. Never! Let's take advantage of our night out to fly out of the country. And then no baby talk, nothing!"

A few people turned around to stare at her. She had obviously been talking too loud. Trying to just ignore the strangers' reaction, Jane hid behind the movie theater magazine she had picked up when they had arrived.

"Ha!" Her shriek made Maura and a part of the row jump of surprise. If she had really wanted to pass unnoticed, she had just miserably failed. "Look at this. _Thelma & Louise_. If this isn't a sign..."

"Of what? That we should jump off a cliff in Monument Valley?"

Maura's sarcasm took her aback. Her friend was not particularly known for using such choice of weapon. Yet it made Jane proud. Her student was learning. At last. It had only taken her five years.

"By the way... A hot dog, a Sundae and now popcorn... For an action movie...? What have you done, Maura?"

The scientist might have been giving it a try at sarcasm, Jane needed to prove she herself mastered it. There was no way she would let her friend become better at it than her.

"I just wanted to thank you. This evening is for you."

When Jane had got Maura's text message in the afternoon to let her know that they would go out at night, she hadn't looked for a specific reason.

They didn't have to be with Margot all the time. The adolescent probably even felt the desire to be on her own a bit and Angela was there if she needed help. It was all fine.

"I know that I am not easy. There is a reason why I am single and... What you are doing for me is... Nobody ever did that, Jane. Nobody."

_If you don't reply now, she might take it bad. Say something, Rizzoli. C'mon! Say something, please. _

"That's what friends are for."

The sentence sounded a bit cliché but Jane hadn't found anything else to say. She didn't really have words to comfort Maura. Her brain felt numbed, just like her heart.

"So tonight... You can have all the hot dogs in the world, all the cotton candy you want. I will offer them to you one by one. Whatever you want to do, we will do it. This is your day, Jane. Enjoy it."

Jane's sheepish smile echoed Maura's proud one. It was a nice attention, very unexpected. The room turned dark and the first commercial appeared on screen, putting an end to the odd face-to-face both friends were having.

Jane remained quiet for a while; popcorn on her lap.

Focused straight in front of her, she fought a mental battle and grabbed Maura's hand in the dark to hold it tightly. The gesture almost made her laugh. Sweet reminiscence of her awkward flirts when she was still a kid. She swallowed hard.

"Gosh I'm so glad you didn't take me to the Iraqui movie." Her whisper made Maura roll her eyes. "I swear when I saw they were playing it, I thought I was on for a four-hour avant-garde thing."

"I got the message when I took you to this Asian festival, don't be worried." Maura laughed lightly. She cast a glance at her friend who was focused on the screen. "I don't think I deserve you much, you know..."

The murmur rose in the air – twirled around Jane's head – then passed underneath her skin before rushing to her heart to make it beat faster. She froze, blinked.

In five years of friendship, they had never talked so openly about their relation; about their feelings. Why they had to do it now – in a movie theater, plunged in the dark – was a complete mystery.

"Don't be silly."

She closed her eyes as she felt Maura settle against her; her head in the crook of her neck, her arm around her waist. Her lips brushed her friend's hair. A stolen kiss, one nobody would ever feel, not really.

"But I haven't given up, you know. One day, I will find a movie festival that you will enjoy as much as I do. And... In the meantime... I know that you will try. _We_ will try."

The silence of the room felt comforting and warm. Jane abandoned herself to it with an immense pleasure; rocked by Maura's words and the first seconds of the movie.

If she wanted to be honest then she would admit that she hadn't disliked the Asian festival, just like she hadn't disliked any of her evenings spent with Maura for this exact same reason: Maura's presence by her side.

And that made the difference. Every single time.

"Maybe an action movie festival...?"

Maura's giggles in the crook of her neck sent a shiver down a spine. Something warm seemed to raise in her stomach and made her hands moist; her heart beat fast. She wasn't sure it was how it should have been going but the truth was that Jane had never felt so fine.

And she loved that.


	9. A Sunday Brunch With The Family

_**Author's note: thank you very much for the reviews, the private messages and the suggestions.**_

**Chapter eight: A Sunday Brunch With The Family**

Maura brought a finger to her mouth and sucked the chocolate on it. Dark chocolate. Perfect. A moan of delight passed her lips which pushed Jane to react. The Italian gasped pretending to be shocked.

"Maura Dorthea Isles..." Remembering that Margot was in the kitchen too, she hurried to complete her sentence. "Isles-Rizzoli!" Better. "Don't touch the chocolate dough?"

Maura laughed and surprised her friend by planting a joyful kiss on her cheek. Best way to make her keep quiet.

She had woken up in a light mood in spite of Jane's incessant attempts to pull on the blanket all night long to keep it for herself. It was Sunday – none of them worked – the birds were singing in the trees and the sky was blue. A perfect day for a family brunch at her place.

She knew that Frankie and Tommy would have a blast playing around her fake marriage to Jane but Maura didn't mind. On the contrary, she was rather eager to face their challenges. She was getting good at it after two weeks of practice.

"I am done with the crepes. Do you want me to prepare the _quiche_? Or a vegetable pie, I don't mind. We don't have a lot of vegetable in the dishes we prepared so it could be great. What do you think?"

If Maura smiled proudly at Margot's comment, Jane widened her eyes in pure panic. Of course, she had got the healthy teenager. Among all the French students, fate had decided for her and she hadn't landed the classic adolescent who only swore by junk food.

As much as Maura had told her that this was a French thing, she had seen how the other teens enjoyed their burgers and fries. It was not entirely true. French kids liked greasy things too.

"If you start praising kale, I swear I order a maternity test for you and Maura. You two are way too much alike. It's scary."

_And I feel lost among health freaks, dammit. What have I done to deserve this, exactly? What have I done to..._

The door bell rang. Jane – Maura – and Margot turned around to look at it; surprised. They weren't expecting anyone. Not yet. Jane's brothers would arrive in an hour and Angela used the patio door since she lived in the guest house. It had to be someone else.

Since Maura had now both hands plunged in flour, Jane took charge and walked to the door. As she reached it, bits of the conversation Margot was having with Maura reached her but she didn't pay attention to them.

"Welcome to the Isles-Rizzoli house-... Hold...?" Her sentence died in the air before she had a real chance to keep quiet. "Constance?" Bad timing for a joke.

The artist was standing by the door a bouquet of flowers in hand; all smiles.

"_Bonjour_, Jane."

What was she doing here? Jane concentrated and tried to remember if Maura had told her that she was expecting a visit from her mother but – as far as she knew – the scientist hadn't. And yet, there was Constance; waiting outside politely.

"What... A surprise! I didn't know you were in Boston...?"

Constance made a step forward to enter the house but Jane prevented her from doing so by leaning against the door. The artist frowned, confused.

"It wasn't planned. I was in Chicago for an exhibition when I thought that I could stop by for a few days to say hello to my daughter. Is she there?"

_You bet she is. With a wedding ring and a foreign guest who thinks we are married. _

Jane cleared her voice to win some time. She didn't know what to do nor what to reply to Constance. Yet could she really lie to her and say that Maura was out on a crime scene? Her friend's mother would simply reply that she would wait for her return. At her house. No. She couldn't find the slightest relevant excuse.

Jane ran a hand through her hair and tilted her head. She squinted her eyes – opened her mouth – and took a deep breath.

"Is your mistress on the other side of the door?"

Too late. She made a face as a joyful Maura giggled at her own remark and opened the door widely only to freeze as she realized who Jane had been talking to. The medical examiner swallowed hard.

For once she allowed herself to make a joke.

"Oh."

Constance made another step forward and planted a loud kiss on her daughter's cheek. She offered her the bouquet and finally managed to come in, completely unaware of the panic on Jane's face.

Maura was livid.

"The flight from Chicago was awful... I should have known better than to take a commercial flight."

She dropped her coat on the console table and stepped into the living-room only to stop when she noticed Margot in the kitchen. "Hello."

The French girl nodded timidly before finally holding out a hand to Constance.

"I am Margot."

"Constance, Maura's mother." She turned around and raised an eyebrow at the scientist. "You have very young friends, I see." She focused back on Margot and smiled. "French ones, I presume?"

Maura rushed to the kitchen counter to introduce both parties. So much for relaxing before the farce she and Jane were playing. It had to be karma.

"Margot is a French student who is staying here until May. She is from Bordeaux. And Constance is my mother, indeed. She..."

"You got married, honey?" Constance grabbed her daughter's hand to check the diamond wedding ring on it. She didn't look particularly surprised nor did she feel much concerned. Just curious. Maybe amused. "Who is the lucky one?"

Silence. Maura swallowed hard, feeling all the weight of Margot's eyes and her confusion on her. _Talk about a very unexpected turn of events, Isles._

"To me." Jane rushed to Maura's side and passed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "We got married."

"Oh." Constance seemed to have a moment of uncertainty. She soon shrugged it away though and went to sit on the couch. "I always knew that it would happen at some point, anyway."

On the verge of passing out, Maura closed her eyes. She needed to calm down, to breathe slowly. But Margot's hand on her forearm took her straight back to reality. She looked at the adolescent and waited for her to speak.

"You don't see her very often? That's why she doesn't know you were married?"

Thankfully, Margot had whispered her question and Constance didn't turn to be able to overhear it. She had grabbed a magazine and was now leafing through it, probably waiting for someone to get her a drink. At this hour of the morning, it would be a vodka on the rock.

"It might be a possibility, indeed." Maura nodded at the teenager and excused herself. She rushed to the stairs - ran to the first floor – then locked herself in the bathroom. A nightmare. It was nothing – nothing at all – but a nightmare.

Yet she didn't turn to have much time for herself as someone soon knocked on the door, making her jump in surprise.

"Maura, are you okay?"

She hissed.

"Don't let Margot with my mother, Jane! Go back downstairs! She can't know... They can't know... It is..." Her heart was beating way too fast. Her voice was shaking. She wasn't fine.

"Your mother's on the phone, it's okay. But please... Don't pass out. Not now. You know there's a lot of traffic on the road to the hospital and we'd go super slow if you happened to break into hives."

Against her very own expectations, Maura surprised herself laughing at the comment. She walked to the door and opened it to face Jane.

"Is it what happens when you lie? Is there... Some sort of invisible force that punishes you for doing what you do?"

Jane seemed to hesitate. She cast a glance upon her friend's shoulder then buried her hands in the pockets of her jeans.

"So this trip to India had a meaning. You really are into the new-age, spiritual karma thing... Hmm. Kind of odd for a scientist!"

Maura laughed. Jane's sarcasm didn't stress her out anymore. She had learnt to appreciate it since her friend had moved in with her. She had also taken some distance with their fake marriage and didn't appear to be as nervous as she had been during the past few weeks.

Or at least until this morning.

"I needed to take a shower, anyway. Do you mind preparing the lasagna for me? So you can keep an eye on Margot and my mother at the same time? Once I am done here, you can have your shower and hopefully we will be ready for a nice – relaxing although there is nothing less sure about this – Sunday brunch. Deal?"

"Sure, honey." Jane turned around and began to walk away.

"Jane! No pet name, please."

The Italian stopped – turned around – then winked.

"I bet you'll miss them once it's over."

"I am certain of the exact opposite, actually." Maura made a step towards her friend. She locked her eyes with her and shook her head as a smirk curled up her lips. "You won't win this battle, Jane Rizzoli."

"Wanna bet?"

The brunette had remained still and looked self-confident. But it was only a game of appearances. Since their evening out at the movies, Jane felt lost and confused. She had tried to ignore it all for a while but it hadn't worked. She hadn't slept well; thoughts were haunting her mind. Something was happening but she didn't know what.

Maura didn't reply. She walked back to the bathroom instead, all smiles.


	10. Let's Remain Zen

_**Author's note: thank you very much for the reviews, it is a pleasure to read them.**_

**Chapter nine: Let's Remain Zen**

"Dr. Is-... Isles...?" Susie stopped abruptly as she spotted her boss on the floor. Maura was sitting Indian style, her eyes closed. "Is... I mean, a-... Are you okay?"

The medical examiner slowly raised a hand then nodded in silence. The sound of a Tibetan bowl was filling her office while a stick of incense spread a fragrance of pachouli all around. She had taken her shoes off and kept on taking deep breaths that made her chest rise up and down. She let a few more seconds pass by and finally opened her eyes.

She smiled at her employee.

"What can I do for you, Susie?"

The senior criminalist was taken aback by the scene. She had witnessed strange things since she had started working for Maura but the Buddha vibe was a first. She timidly waved a couple of papers.

"We... Ahem... We have the DNA results...?"

Maura stood up and grabbed the papers immediately. Her moment of relaxation had been too short but her job was her priority. She didn't have much of a choice. She skimmed through the numbers – rather quickly – and pouted when her eyes landed on the line that interested her the most.

"It doesn't match? Really? How come?"

Susie shook her head. She looked a tad sorry. These were not the results they had hoped for. She pursed her lips then adjusted her glasses on top of her nose.

"Sadly, it doesn't. Nope. We obviously double-checked thanks to the different samples we have but there's no match whatsoever. It's..." She made a vague gesture of the hand before keeping quiet.

It was a failure for the lab team. They both knew it.

"Fine..." It wasn't really but Maura couldn't release her frustration on Susie Chang. She wasn't this kind of boss and refused to give in. "Then I suppose that we will find something else, an element... There must be something missing."

But against all expectations, she didn't hurry out of her office to run new tests by herself. Instead, she sat back down on the floor in the same position and closed her eyes again. Susie frowned but didn't ask for any explanation. After all, her boss was free to do what she wanted.

When she wanted.

The young woman turned around but nonetheless lingered by the door. She seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before finally asking Maura a question.

"Does this really work? The breathing, relaxation exercize? I have always wondered..."

Eyes closed, Maura shrugged and wrinkled her nose. She didn't seem very convinced herself, to be honest.

"I would say that it depends on the situation you are facing. A stress caused by upcoming exams? Yes, it does. Your mother showing up without any warning while you are pretending to be married to your female friend because this is a requirement to welcome a foreign student at your place for a while..." She pouted. "A lot less."

Files clutched to her chest, Susie nodded – turned around – and rushed out of the office; as red as a beetroot.

...

"This is grand. I mean... You know you'd sell the idea to Hollywood? Your life's a comedy, Rizzoli. It's pure comedy." Frost shook his head in disbelief yet kept on laughing. "I can't believe Dr. Isles' mother showed up and bought the marriage thing right away. It's... Hahahahaha... Man, I love it!"

She should have never let him know. Jane turned her head and looked by the car window. Why had she done that? She wasn't a newbie. Of course, her colleague would mock her. After the last events of the weekend, who wouldn't anyway? Even Frankie and Tommy hadn't stopped giggling like school girls during the brunch.

The only positive thing was that Constance didn't seem to have noticed the slightest thing or if she had, then she had remained quiet about it.

Jane made a face. Frost was right, though. Her life was a complete farce.

"Don't force me to hit you."

Her comment didn't get the effect she had hoped for. Frost burst out laughing again to the point tears appeared at the corner of his eyes. He swept them away with the back of his hand and took a rather long breath to calm down a bit.

"You know – since it's now confession time – I gotta say that I was surprised at first when you and Dr. Isles hit it off because you're so... I mean, come on... You know...? She plays at another level. But then I guess it's kind of logical. Opposites attract."

Jane gasped and stared at her colleague, horrified. She had rarely been so offended in her whole life.

"What do you mean exactly by 'she plays at another level'...? That's so..."

Frost tilted his head and smiled at her apologetically. Before Jane's silence, he nonetheless hurried to add a semblance of explanation.

"She's high-maintenance and artsy when you... You're the hot dog kind who likes action movies."

"I can eat _escargots_ too if I want to!" She angrily pointed a menacing finger at him. "I could have Maura any time, do you get that? Jane Rizzoli can get any socialite on stilettos in Boston and that starts with Maura. Any time. I can have her any time." Finally realizing what she was saying, Jane cleared her voice and focused on her lap before lowering her voice. "I mean if I were into women, of course."

"Oh please. We both know – for a fact – that you're not _that_ straight."

She shot him a death glare. It was the first time Frost dared to allude to something Jane had never wanted him to share nor to talk about. He had known about it by accident but had then promised her that he would not say it to anyone.

The young detective raised his both hands.

"You know I won't say it to anyone. It's fine."

Jane nodded but clenched her teeth as she observed the street again. She felt like walking, all of a sudden. Going out in the rain. She felt trapped in the car; lacking air. The music on the radio went on her nerves and a very painful lump had formed in her throat. She couldn't cry now. Anything but that.

Once. It had happened once. She had spent the night with a woman once. It was a detail, a very insignificant one. A mistake, perhaps. The truth was that she hadn't tried to put words on it because she did not know what to do of it.

So she had tried to simply go on and forget about it.

"And why are we stuck in traffic, anyway?" She hit the door in annoyance and pursed her lips.

"Hey! This car's property of the BPD. Don't break it!" Feeling the tension between him and his colleague, Frost kept on talking. "I like a lot Dr. Isles. She brought you a lot of good things. Hard for women to have friends in BPD-Macho Land. I guess... I guess she understands; you unlike us, the guys. I mean, you know... At times we're a bit off."

Jane remained silent for a while. Her colleague's words were floating around in a soothing way. It was strange but comforting. A half-smile on her lips, she turned around again to look at him.

"Why do you call her 'Dr. Isles' and not Maura? You met her five years ago. Don't you think it might be time for you to stop calling her by her family name?"

The young man made a face that highlighted his uncertainty. A biker overtook them. He observed him for a few seconds before focusing back on his own steering-wheel.

"I don't know. I'm used to it, now. It's a form of respect too. Sure we hang out at times outside of work but I mostly see her at the BPD when she's the chief medical examiner. It'd be strange to call her by her firstname."

Jane laughed.

"You're strange, Frostie." Snap on her arm. "Ouch...?"

"Something tells me you're not really in position to make fun of me right now. Remember that _Maura _invited me over for dinner tomorrow evening? Along with her mother, yours, Korsak and me. It could easily turn into your worst nightmare, Rizzoli. So behave until then. Take this as an advice."

"Blackmail, you mean!"

The car ahead of them finally drove away offering them a chance to move as well. Chinatown and its red – old – signs sped past in front of Jane's eyes. She looked at them absentmindedly. Perhaps she could take Margot and Maura to a Chinese restaurant one of these days. The French girl loved the food, her friend as well. They would have a nice time for sure.

_Will you stop already with the family fantasies? It's a joke, Rizzoli. A lie. There's no need for you to lose yourself in pretty scenarios because they'll only happen in your head._

Why was she thinking about them in the first place? It didn't make sense.

A bit troubled, she moved nervously on her seat and grabbed her coffee cup then checked the notes she had taken a couple of hours before when they had interviewed one of the victim's relatives.

_Excellent. Focus on your job instead. That's your priority. You landed a case, make sure you'll do it all to solve it. The rest is breeze. Nothing but breeze. Get over it, Rizzoli._


	11. You Can't Fight Fate

_**Author's note: thank you for your reviews and your patience.**_

**Chapter ten: You Can't Fight Fate**

"So you are telling me that all of this is a joke?"

Constance hadn't used a sharp tone of voice but Jane nonetheless felt the urge to look down at her lap as if she had done something wrong. Sitting next to her, Maura began to stutter. Before the last events – more unexpected than ever – they had decided to break the news to her mother. It was too dangerous to not let her know. Too dangerous and too stressful.

"It is rather harmless." Maura didn't sound convinced by her own argument. It was a bit weak. "And it is only the matter of two months. Once Margot goes back to France, everything is over!"

Constance slowly turned her head to look at her daughter. She blinked and pursed her lips in what could have been assimilated to a strong disapproval.

"Who taught you to lie, exactly?"

This time, Jane didn't let Maura reply.

She was responsible of the situation too, after all. Besides, she couldn't witness the scene without reacting herself. Not if she didn't want to face insomnia as she would go to sleep. Her conscience was a stubborn one. It wouldn't make her feel right if she remained quiet now.

"Your daugher can't lie, Constance. So technically, she's never hidden the truth to our host. There're just some things that she didn't mention." _Our. _Jane didn't realize immediately that she had included herself. Fair enough, though.

Constance laughed lightly which took Jane aback. Was Maura's mother angry or testing them? She wasn't so sure anymore.

"She plays with words. I know her. We might not see each other very often, I still know how Maura works." Constance grabbed her pack of cigarettes and lit one. She shrugged. "But I don't care much. I find it rather funny, as a matter of fact."

"You... You do...?" Maura straightened up on her seat and cast a brief glance at Jane to make sure that she had heard her mother well. Her friend looked just as troubled as she was herself.

Constance nodded, though.

"Yes. I can't believe that someone would make up such scenario just to welcome home a student but then if there has to be someone who would do that then... It has to be you, let's face it. It is... It is so... You."

Jane was about to reply when she spotted Bass on her right. The tortoise was slowly making his way to the kitchen, the ribbon she had tied around his shell earlier in the morning still in place.

She pouted.

Maybe Constance was right. Such a cock and bull scenario was typical from her daughter. After all, Maura was not a random person. She was a bit special, a bit different. Singular. And that was what made her sweetness; the one Jane loved more than anything.

Together, they formed an odd pairing. Odd but sweet.

The thought made her smile and only the sound of the front door getting slammed took her out of her sudden daydream. She turned around and watched how Margot walked to them. As usual, she was all smiles.

What kind of teenager never looked grumpy? She wasn't at her parent's but still, it wasn't normal.

"Hey! Did you have fun with your friends at the ice rink, Frenchie?"

Margot nodded – high-fived her – then went to plant two kisses on Maura and Constance's cheeks. Some traditions would obviously never die. The teenager sat down on the couch and waited for Jo Friday to jump on her lap. The dog had got used to Margot as well. It would be hard when she left.

"It went very well, thank you. What did you do while I was there?"

Maura – Jane – and Constance exchanged an embarrassed look and waited for the other to reply which only turned into a heavy silence; a long one.

"We were just talking about life, _chérie_. Nothing that you need to know about." Constance smiled at Margot and offered her a cigarette before apologizing to Maura who gasped, offended by the idea.

"Then I am going to leave you talk more about _things I shouldn't know _because I have homework to do. By the way, I am preparing a presentation about my US family so I need pictures of you two."

Maura nodded. This wasn't an issue. They had many pictures on their respective computers. They would find ones that Margot could easily use.

"Couple pictures, I mean. Like... Your first dates, your wedding. I have to make a presentation of... Your story... How you became a family." Seeing that nobody was replying to her, Margot seemed to hesitate for a few seconds then finally added. "I also would like to ask you something."

"What is it?" Jane was eager to forget about the picture thing and held hopes over the idea that the question would not be linked to any supposedly love story photo album.

She just hadn't imagined that Margot would turn out to be as nervous as she was now. The girl had stood up but was looking down at her feet.

"I was wondering if we could... Ahem... I mean if I could... You know... Host a party here with my new friends. It's a big house, that would be nice. But don't be worried, I'm used to do that. I'm not the kind of person you can't trust."

"To _doing_ that. You are used to doing that." Maura paused but her hesitation didn't last. She finally nodded at Margot. "Of course, you can. Jane and I trust you. We will just see when it is the best moment to organize it and then we will do it with pleasure!"

Margot threw herself in her arms – repeated the gesture with Jane – then happily trotted to the stairs before going to her room.

The brunette waited for a few seconds before shaking her head at her friend.

"It's your house, Maura, but... Do you have any idea what it means to have a teen invasion here?"

The medical examiner looked at Jane with perplexity. She didn't understand what the detective meant. Margot was a nice girl, very polite. She wouldn't cause them any trouble.

"What is wrong with it? Besides, I never hosted any party when I was her age... So I am glad to be part of one. Finally!" Maura raised her fists to highlight her genuine joy.

Constance and Jane looked at each other a bit sorry for her innocence. The Italian stood up – walked to the kitchen – and sighed loudly. She poured herself a glass of water.

"Something tells me we won't be invited, Maura. That's how teen parties work. Parents are locked in their bedroom all night. We're gonna be hostages. Hostages to bad music."

She grabbed her car keys and put her jacket on. She was on a night shift and had to leave now for the BPD. If she had never minded much about such schedule before, things were now different. She did not want to go. Staying home with Maura and Margot was a lot more appealing. They could watch a movie or just enjoy a nice chat.

But she didn't have much of a choice.

She waved at Maura and Constance then left by the patio door. The house turned quiet again. Way too quiet for the scientist's tastes. Sometimes she thought about what would happen after and how she would feel terribly lonely once the whole thing was over. She loved her house but it was a bit too big for just one person at times.

One person and a tortoise.

"You are doing well, Maura."

She didn't move at first. She remained still and kept on staring at the patio door as if playing in her head over and over the moment Jane had left. The words had hit the air with a delicate honesty, though; something very sweet.

A tone of voice she didn't assimilate to her mother.

"What do you mean?" Maura swallowed hard, bit her lips.

Constance rolled her eyes. She lacked patience and had always hated explaining things that seemed evident to her eyes.

"Parenting. You might not be married to Jane – yet...? - but I can say that you would be a fantastic mother. I can see it through your interactions with Margot; the way you two are with each other. Sure, she isn't a tough child but you nonetheless make the right choices, at the right time. And for you – knowing your difficulties to socialize – I think that it is wonderful."

A thousand possibilities of answers rushed to her head but she didn't choose any. Instead, Maura remained quiet and still. She didn't smile, didn't do anything but trying to ignore the first part of her mother's explanation; the one about her relation to Jane. It was not the right moment.

"If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't repeat my mistakes from the past. I know that I haven't been a good mother, Maura. I am sorry for that."

Maura shook her head immediately and finally reacted. It had taken her a while but she wouldn't let her mother say this. She didn't find it fair.

"This isn't true. You gave me a lot, in your own way. You taught me tolerance, how important it is to be open-minded. You showed me the world and I met extraordinary people thanks to you..." The rest didn't matter. Not anymore. She loved her parents for who they were.


	12. On That Evening

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews.**_

**Chapter eleven: On That Evening**

"What? You don't like this one either?" Annoyed, Maura looked at the box she was holding and put it down on the floor. Jane didn't need to reply, the face she had made was explicit enough. "I am a tad sorry to say this but... You are really not helping, right now."

"How could I? These kids don't know what good music is. Two hours, Maura. We've been forced to listen to this shit for two hours now. So no... I'm sorry but my patience has its limits. _Guess Who_ – _Operation_ – and the _Monopoly_ are _not_ tempting choices. I'm so not in the mood to play..." She motioned the social boardgames. "Any of these!"

Maura rolled her eyes. She stood up and began to pace her bedroom. She wasn't particularly fond of the music choice herself but they had given the green light to Margot for the party and didn't have anything to say, now. They couldn't complain if the teenagers preferred Lady Gaga to The Beatles.

"Why not make an effort, Jane? You know, for once...?" Too late. Maura bit her lower lip and shook her head. She shouldn't have said this. Bad move. A grumpy Jane was a delicate one to deal with. "I mean... Let's watch television."

After all, Jane had insisted to have a screen in the bedroom when she had moved in. Maura saw it as the death of the couple life but then since they weren't really married, she had abdicated.

She turned it on and grabbed the remote control to surf through the channels.

At first she had hoped to go out; to take advantage of the party to go to the restaurant or have a couple of drinks with her and Jane's colleagues at The Dirty Robber. But it had soon appeared clearly that Angela couldn't stay home to look after the teenagers while Constance had a dinner with friends in Cambridge.

That was when the hostage situation – as Jane used to call it – had started.

"May I have a refill, please? If we aren't going out tonight, make sure at least that I have more wine than I should if I had to drive..."

Jane didn't make any remark and obliged. Their bedroom had turned into a panic room, with pretty much all the amenities she needed: food, drinks, games, television.

Nothing was missing except – maybe – her possibility to go from one room to another freely. And that was annoying.

"Oh! _Ghost_..."

The brunette rolled her eyes and rushed to her friend. She stole the remote control from her hands.

"No, no, no, no, no. Not that one."

"Why? It isn't a bad movie." A bit upset, Maura looked at the television screen as Jane started going through the different channels herself. "You don't like it? And no sport, please."

Shrug. Silence. It wasn't that Jane didn't want to reply but she didn't know how to bring her point up since she found it slightly delicate.

"No... I mean... It's not the issue, Maura. But... I don't know... It's kind of a sad movie."

The medical examiner yawned and walked back to her bed. At least it was comfortable, and warm. She grabbed her glass of wine and took a sip.

"There are tissues if you happen to feel like crying. It is all fine, Jane. Nobody will witness it but..." She didn't have time to finish her sentence. Her friend scoffed to interrupt her.

"Jane Rizzoli doesn't cry when she watches a movie." The Italian turned around to look at her friend before focusing back on the screen.

"You know, if there is nothing on television then we can also talk."

She hadn't meant to sound reproachful that was exactly the sentiment her voice had betrayed. All of a sudden, her cheeks began to burn and she looked aside trying desperately to run away from what was now turning into a rather embarrassing moment.

Thankfully Jane didn't interpret it this way at all. Her friend's remark got followed by a scream of victory. She rushed back to the bed and settled next to Maura.

"_Elephant Man_. Now this is good. No heartbreaking love story. Just... A freak."

"Did you know that his real name was Joseph Merrick and not John Merrick like in the movie? It is a mistake that first appeared in the biography of Dr. Treves who..."

"This isn't Jeopardy, Maura. Slow down on the fun facts and enjoy the damn movie. I mean if you can because that so-called music is way too loud." Jane growled. "These teens...!" Now she was certain that she would never have any.

It hadn't taken them long to find a date for the party. Margot had insisted on supervizing everything and the truth was that she had showed great control of the situation. Anyway if she needed help or anything, she simply had to knock on the door of the master bedroom.

A stifled sound made Jane jump in surprise. It came from inside; from the room she was in.

She looked down and squinted her eyes at Bass who had just hit the bedside table.

"Maura, I guess your tortoise is scared or troubled... It keeps on banging its head against the night stand. Please tell me it's not changing its human form now. I don't want to witness that."

The blonde got up immediately and rushed to the bedside table. She squatted and began to pat the tortoise preferring to ignore Jane's supposedly funny remark.

"He isn't used to so much noise and he doesn't know this room very well. It is okay, Bass. We are all doing fine."

Jane chuckled. She was symbolically locked in a room with enough species to start her own remake of Noah's Ark. Jo Friday was peacefully sleeping on an armchair while Bass went from one side to another, anxious as ever. What an odd scene to witness.

"What are you doing? No, Maura! What happened to your no-pet-on-the-bed rule?"

The medical examiner sat back on her side of the bed and reluctantly put Bass down on the floor. Jane had a point. Even if it broke her heart. She refused to have Jo Friday on the bed so why making an exception for Bass?

"Maybe if we started treating animals with respect, we wouldn't have... Any elephant man case! I mean – not from a medical point of view – but from a sociological one. Joseph Merrick was really not treated well by other men. This is where the scandal lies in this story."

"Whatever, Maura. Whatever."

Silence.

"... Don't 'whatever' me."

...

Something startled Maura and only when she opened her eyes did she realize that she had fallen asleep. In Jane's arms. She yawned and stretched her arms but didn't move.

"What time is it?"

Jane was still watching television. A basket-ball game was on, she had simply turned the sound off.

"10.15pm... Within two hours now, we'll be free from this nightmare."

Maura laughed lightly and rolled on her back. She stared at the ceiling; hands on her stomach. She had missed most of _Elephant Man_.

"I can't believe you managed to fall asleep with that loud music going on."

She sat up – close to her friend – and shrugged. Her brain was still numbed and she was cold. She felt like sleeping once and for all.

"I don't know. I must be tired." She turned her head around to look at Jane. Her bed would be cold when their fake marriage came to an end. She had got accustomed to her friend's presence by her side every single night. "You have an eyelash on your cheek." But before Jane had a chance to sweep it away, Maura grabbed her wrist to stop her. "No. Close your eyes and make a wish."

Jane obliged, amused by a game she hadn't played for a very long time. She pouted.

"Done!"

Maura leaned up on her elbows and came closer to her friend's face; only a few inches away from it. Her hand slid on Jane's jaw and came to rest on her nape. She swallowed hard.

"Right or left?"

The detective shrugged.

"Left...?"

Jane's hesitation made Maura smile. She nodded – even if her friend couldn't see her since she still had her eyes close – and blew on the cheek to sweep away the eyelash. All of a sudden, a pair of dark eyes landed on her; dangerously close to her green ones.

"What was your wish?"

"I'm not supposed to say it..."

Jane subconsciously parted her lips at the same time as Maura in a perfect – confusing – game of mirrors. They both bent over. Barely an inch forward. Yet enough for their lips to brush.

The knock on the door made them jump.

They barely had time to turn their heads around that Margot and Constance were already coming in. Their smiles froze as they realized that they might have been interrupting something. The teen put a hand in front of her mouth while the artist barely hid a smirk. She looked amused.

"I was just stopping by to say good night and see if everything was going alright. Now that I am... Ahem... Reassured... I can leave you for the night." She pointed out Margot. "The young girl here would like to introduce Bass to her friends." Constance smiled at the girl. "_Chérie_, why not taking Jo Friday with you as well...? That way, Jane and Maura can have the proper intimacy they seem to need right now."

She turned on her heels and left; delighted to see her daughter and her friend slightly mortified.


	13. A Conclusion To Draw

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews. **_

**Chapter twelve: A Conclusion To Draw**

The scalpels were neat. The scissors were ready. A brand new autopsy kit was lying bare on the metallic table in front of her but she didn't have any corpse to work on. Nobody. It was a calm day at the morgue. Her team was either working on other cases or filling reports that she would have to sign later on.

A perfect day for introspection except it was the last thing Maura wanted to do.

For once, she felt like forgetting everything; not using her brain too much and simply relax. Have a bit of fun. Such lightness didn't match her temper, though. She used to think – analyze – and study.

This was who she was: a pure scientist.

They had almost kissed and so what? It was probably her fault, anyway. She remembered how tired she had been. She had just woken up and was still somehow plunged in her dreams.

She knew Jane hadn't pushed her away but she preferred to ignore this detail for not knowing what to do of it.

Her mother had left for Paris the next morning in a relative silence. She hadn't insisted, hadn't said the slightest thing. But Maura hadn't forgotten either the way she had hugged her. The gesture had been meaningful; explicit. Her smile as well.

_Jane_. Troubled, the medical examiner left the autopsy room and walked back to her office. She sat down on the couch before grabbing a cushion to hold it tightly against her. Protectively. She felt lost.

Overwhelmed.

Of course, life had gone on as if nothing had happened.

Maura had rushed to her yoga room pretending to need something there. And then at midnight, the teenagers had left. She and Jane had gone to bed without a word. It had taken them a while to look at each other again, though. If Margot hadn't made a remark about their rather odd behavior, Maura had no idea whether she would have locked her eyes with her friend's ones yet again.

She felt a bit embarrassed.

_You were both intoxicated, Isles. There is nothing to worry about, nothing to analyze. A kiss isn't the end of the world, anyway. People kiss every day. You wouldn't have died from it._

Her cell phone vibrated in the pocket of her jacket. She took it out then opened the text message. It came from Jane.

_I'm off to Quantico for two days. _

_Back home to pack._

_Take care_

_J._

Maura frowned. What was Jane going to do in Quantico? She was not particularly eager to work in collaboration with the FBI and – as far as Maura knew – she wasn't on any big case that required a quick intervention from the Bureau. But too coward to call her friend, the scientist simply sent her back a message.

_Is everything okay?_

_Tell me when you land back in Boston, we will go pick you up at the airport._

_M._

...

"You argued, didn't you? You argued because of the party, because of me?" Fork in hand, Margot shook her head apologetically and looked down at her plate. She had barely touched her pasta. "I am so sorry... I didn't mean to do anything wrong."

"We didn't argue! And you didn't do anything wrong. Going away for a few days happens relatively often. We have... Singular jobs. Last-minute changes of plan are frequent."

Although they had made sure at first that none of them would have to leave Boston during Margot's stay.

Jane's departure had been rushed and decided upon the BPD. She hadn't had much of a choice but Maura still thought that it was related to their semblance of kiss. The Italian had probably seen in it an excellent excuse to take her distance with Maura for a few hours.

"If you say so." Margot took a mouthful of pasta and smiled nicely at Maura. "Your mother is a nice person. A bit... Strange...? But cool. I like her. She and Angela get along. They didn't stop talking."

If the first part of Margot's statement didn't trouble Maura much, the second part got a very different effect on her. Her heartbeats sped up their pace, she swallowed hard.

Constance and Angela had a rather good relation but weren't _that_ talkative; or at least not to the point Margot had a chance to notice it.

"What were they talking about?"

"I don't know. They would stop whenever I walked in the room. But Angela looked happy. She was always smiling when they talked."

The confession pushed Maura to a refill. She took a long sip of her wine then stared blankly in front of her. She wasn't sure what to do of such detail. If Jane had been there, the brunette would have not wasted a second in calling the whole thing a conspiracy of some sort. But Maura was more balanced or at least she was supposed to.

There was nothing less sure anymore.

"Maura...?" Margot seemed to hesitate. "I don't understand why you hadn't told your mother you were married. You two are okay with each other, I saw it. So why? Why not letting her know? It's important. You don't get married every day! She doesn't like Jane? Or... She doesn't... She doesn't like the idea you're with a woman? She didn't sound like this kind of person to me. I really don't understand your silence over it."

For once someone was eager to keep alive the French tradition of having a long talk during the meal, Maura simply felt the urge to run away.

She needed to take a bath and let the warmth of the water rock her peacefully; Yo-Yo Ma playing in the background.

"We do get along but we don't talk much. We aren't strangers – this is not what I mean – but there is quite of a distance between the two of us. She spends her time traveling the world. I haven't spent a single Christmas Day with her and my father since 1992. We are a singular family."

"Then you must be happy to have the Rizzolis. Jane complains all the time that her mother's here... You don't have yours a lot. It's the exact opposite!"

The remark made Maura smile. There was something true in what Margot had just said. Something very true.

"You are a good observer, and a smart girl. How come you don't have a boyfriend? You don't have a crush at school? An American crush...?"

Margot put her fork down and crossed her hands on the table. She bit her lower lip and turned her head around to look at Maura with all the seriousness in the world.

"Don't take it bad but you sound really obsessed with guys for a woman who's married to another woman."

In other circumstances, the comment would have probably made her burst out laughing but Maura blushed instead and tried to hide herself behind her glass of wine.

Her cheeks were burning. Why had she even talked about boyfriends in the first place? If Margot didn't want to have one then it was okay. She should have chosen another subject to talk about.

"Well... I happened to date men too, you know. I am not – was not – exclusive." She stood up right away and walked to the sink just to turn her back at Margot. "But we can talk about anything else."

"I don't mind who you dated in the past. It turned out that Jane was the right one for you."

The certainty in Margot's voice made Maura freeze. The French student had said so with the same casualness one would use to say the most random thing in the world. Why did it seem so evident to people who didn't know that they weren't really married? They didn't fake it much. It was more a cohabitation.

Why did people draw such conclusions when their behavior as friends hadn't changed?

The first notes of a waltz resounded loud in the house. Startled, Maura turned around and looked at Margot. The young girl had left the table for Jane's piano.

Nobody had ever touched the instrument apart from the detective and yet, it hadn't happened for a long while. She had stopped playing after sustaining her hand injuries.

Hearing the keys was the most singular thing Maura had ever faced at her place. She knew Margot played the piano as it was written in her file but she hadn't touched Jane's since she had arrived.

Very slowly, Maura made her way to the living-room and sat on the arm of the couch to listen to the waltz wishing nothing but Jane to be here.

She was convinced that her friend would have loved this moment in spite of the meaning behind this piano she didn't dare to touch, barely look at.

_You miss her, don't you? Be honest with yourself, Isles. You miss her and you know why. Face it. Put words on it. That's all you need to do to feel relieved._

Maura closed her eyes and abandoned herself to the music.

Margot had a good level and the melody came up with fluidity rising in the air delicately. Everything crashed when she stopped, though. Maura's smile disappeared – the house got plunged in a heavy silence – and they both felt lonely.

"I am in love with her."

A chaste smile curled up Margot's lips. She looked down at the keys - her hands still on them - then nodded at Maura's statement.

"I know."


	14. Living With Jane

_**Author's note: thank you all for your reviews and your patience (we're getting there).**_

**Chapter thirteen: Living With Jane**

Jane stepped out of the dressing room after making sure that nobody but Margot was around. Arms crossed against her chest, she looked at her reflection in the big mirror in front of her then shook her head right away.

"Nope. Don't like it."

Margot rolled her eyes but didn't give the Italian a chance to run back to the dressing room. Not this time. She had already missed three opportunities since they had started their shopping spree. With a rather impressive reflex, she grabbed Jane's forearm to stop her halfway.

"Stop with the black. You're not going to a funeral and you're not invited for a dinner at the Adams' family. Try that one instead."

Jane cast a glance at the dress that the teenager was holding out to her and burst out laughing. There was no way she would even try it on. She had her limits and this piece of clothing went way beyond them.

"Did you sneak in the restroom earlier today just to take drugs? Seriously, Margot... Have you lost your mind? This isn't me."

"Oh yes, it is. You simply ignore it. And no. I am not on drugs. I stopped smoking pot when I was fifteen. That phase barely lasted for a year."

The comment took Jane aback. She hadn't expected Margot to be as literal as Maura in her answers. And she certainly hadn't imagined that she had tried drugs. Of course, it could have been a joke but the seriousness on the teen's face didn't let Jane think so.

Margot felt her host's confusion and giggled lightly.

"Most of teenagers smoke pot at some point... Or at least in France. I don't know how it works here but – believe me – if you and Maura have a kid one day, chances are he or she will try it." She took advantage of Jane's slight shock to drop the dress in her arms and push her back in the dressing room.

The door got closed.

"And don't even dare to tell me it doesn't fit before showing it to me!"

Jane made a face. What was it that all the people who went shopping with her ended up adopting her mother's tone at some point during the day? It was troubling and not very pleasing.

It wasn't that many people had actually ever felt the desire to spend a few hours going from one store to another in her company but Margot's authoritative tone surely reminded her of Maura's.

_C'mon, Rizzoli. Your life's being dictated by a sixteen-year-old. Do something, dammit!_

"It's _pink_. I don't wear pink."

"This is dark red and Maura loves seeing you in this color so now you're going to make me happy and try the goddamn thing." Margot paused and menacingly approached the door. "Understood?"

Jane hung the dress on the wall hoping that the French girl wouldn't hear her mumbling. Why had she let Margot take her to the stores in the first place? The adolescent was extremely persuasive.

Besides, Jane had just come back from Quantico and felt guilty. She had run away from Boston way too quickly, leaving Maura deal with Margot on her own when it was not what they had planned. If the distance from her friend had brought her relief, she had felt sorry for the teen.

"She... Maura does?"

An important evening. Margot had refused to say more but that was the reason she had given Jane when she had told her that they would shop for a dress. Something elegant, classy.

"Remind me to buy Maura a bottle of wine on our way back home, okay?" Jane put the dress on and looked at her reflection in the mirror of her small dressing room.

The relation she had with Maura seemed to have come back to what it used to be before that _night_.

The scientist had picked her up at the airport – all smiles – and they had chatted all the way back to Beacon Hill.

Perhaps she had been right to leave for Quantico. She hadn't been thrilled at first when Cavanaugh had asked her if she agreed on meeting a few agents to discuss an old case but the truth was that the timing had been perfect.

She had needed the distance.

_Oh please. You've been coward, Rizzoli. Plainly coward. You ran away from something that didn't even happen!_

"And a bouquet of flowers. You never buy each other flowers? Which ones are her favorite?"

"She likes..." Jane opened the door and stepped out again. "She likes poppies...?"

Her answer didn't satisfy Margot. The French girl sighed of despair then bit her lower lip before shaking her head.

"It's not the season. We'll have to find something else." Her priorities lay somewhere else, though. She grabbed Jane by the waist and went to position herself behind the detective. "Now this is one gorgeous dress. You look stunning. Look at you!"

Jane obliged. She was forced to recognize that Margot was right. The dress suited her perfectly. It emphasized her curves in a very feminine way and she felt at ease wearing it. A classic - knee-length - dress; a deep red one.

"I still would like to know why I'm supposed to buy it. I hate surprises. Ask Maura, or my mother... They'll tell you what I think of them."

But Margot didn't listen to her.

"Tulips! Of course... You'll get her tulips. Dark red tulips. Do you know the significance of tulips?"

Jane made a vague gesture of the hand – kicked the air with her foot – then shrugged while looking down at the floor. She was forced to recognize that she didn't.

"Nah. I skipped that class." An odd sensation sent a shiver down her spine. She looked up again and squinted her eyes at Margot. "Why? What do tulips mean?"

The French girl didn't reply. A smirk curled up her lips but as soon as she approached Jane to unzip the dress, the brunette jumped away then rushed back to the dressing room.

"Obviously, we take this one, Jane. And now I offer you a coffee. What do you think about it? Deal?"

The silence that followed turned out to be loud and explicit enough. If this meant the end of shopping torture then how could Jane actually say no?

"Margot... Don't take it bad but are you sure you wanna be a librarian? You're not shy enough for the job. You're a leader."

Back in her own clothes, Jane stepped out of the dressing room; dresses on her arm. The teenager grabbed the one she had chosen and turned around.

"I can be at the head of the whole library staff, can't I? There's always a way to be a leader." She smiled. "Especially when you have some plans in mind."

Jane frowned. She wasn't particularly fond of this last comment.

...

"Okay so..." Jane bent a bit over her cup of coffee and smirked. She lowered her voice, locked her eyes with Margot's. "What did you talk about with Maura while I was gone?"

She wasn't a shopping queen but she had to admit that she was having a fantastic time with the teen. The afternoon was going smoothly; sweetly. So far from her daily little problems. For the very first time since the beginning of the experience, Jane felt at ease with the idea of parenting. Perhaps this was not really how it worked with children but Margot still depended on her. She was a minor and had to follow her rules. Jane was somehow her temporary mother.

Margot seemed to hesitate. Playing with the straw of her hot chocolate, she looked around her and finally focused on the television screen of the cafe. She remained quiet for a few seconds.

"We talked about irreversible things. Inexorable ones."

"Nothing is irreversible. You can always change something if you don't like it. You can always... I don't know... Improve things. Nothing's settled for sure."

Margot shook her head and rubbed her nose. She grabbed her mug more in an attempt to warm up her hands than anything else.

"Even feelings? You don't have a hold over your feelings and sometimes, they happen to be... Just that. Irreversible."

"There's nothing more unpredictable than feelings!" Jane's laugh only betrayed her uncertainty. She decided to not add anything. Her argument was fragile and she knew it.

"You don't think that your love for Maura is eternal? You can actually imagine yourself without her by your side?"

Jane's smile flinched. Margot had outsmarted her and blown away her argument in the fairest way. She was wise for a sixteen-year-old. Oddly wise.

The detective opened her mouth to reply but laughed instead. Something bitter passed underneath her skin, something she couldn't put a name on but that made her feel like crying. Something honest, strong.

"I owe her everything. Eternal isn't enough of a word to describe..." Jane looked down. "To describe the way I feel for Maura."

Margot grinned. Satisfied of the answer, she took a sip of her hot chocolate then grabbed a cookie to eagerly bite into it.

"You know, I hope that – one day – I will live with someone what you live with Maura... Do you see what I mean? You're both so lucky to have found each other. I'm not sure you realize it. You're living a dream."

Jane pouted and raised her eyebrows. She wasn't convinced at all by Margot's words. Perhaps that was how people saw it from outside but the truth was that it was actually completely different.

"There's nothing less sure, Margot." She swallowed hard as her voice broke. "There's nothing less sure at all."

Nothing less sure.


	15. A Date To Remember

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages. I really appreciate them.**_

**Chapter fourteen: A Date To Remember**

Maura grabbed her cell phone and checked the time. Thirty minutes. She had been ready for thirty minutes now but Margot was nowhere to be seen. She had come back home from work only to find the French girl waiting for her in the living-room. All smiles.

Margot had rushed her to her bedroom excitedly, asking her to follow the rules that she would find in the letter next to the dress that was on the bed. Taken aback, Maura hadn't had a chance to ask for details. Any kind of explanation. She had walked to the bed and – her curiosity piqued – had unfolded the letter to read it while Margot and closed the door - quietly - then left.

It was only a list of things to do: have a shower, put makeup on, get dressed with the piece of clothing chosen for the occasion, do her hair. Nothing extraordinary in the strictest sense of the word. But Maura felt very confused before the fact she ignored the exact purpose of the whole thing.

Were they supposed to go out? Had Margot invited special guests to the house for dinner? Maura had no answer yet and the more she waited for someone to tell her to leave the room, the more an odd apprehension spread on her mind. She wasn't in control and didn't like it in spite of trusting the young girl.

Margot wasn't the type of person who did crazy things. She was wise and could easily be trusted. Maura was sure of this.

_But she still has to come back to take you out of the room, Isles. Take you out for something you ignore!_

Of course, Maura could have walked away at any time but she had decided to play along and do as indicated in the letter. She had to wait.

She made the few steps that separated her from one of the windows and leaned there on the wall to observe the street. It was quiet at this time of the day. The night was falling down and not a single car foreign to the neighborhood seemed to be parked there.

Was Jane supposed to do the same, in another bedroom? The medical examiner bit her lips. There were high chances for her friend to be finding herself in a very similar situation somewhere else in the house.

She hadn't overheard any conversation in the corridor, though; any voice. Everything had been very quiet so far. She pursed her lips. Her Friday night was suddenly adopting the shapes of a very unusual one.

The smell. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the smell. Chicken? She couldn't say. She was not close enough to the kitchen but it was clear that someone was cooking there.

She laughed at the incongruity of the situation. She was trapped in her own house, at the mercy of a teenager who had obviously elaborated some evil plan for the evening. As far as she could remember, it was not something that she had already lived. She didn't like surprises, besides. They made her feel nervous. Not really at ease.

She was about to hum an old song – lost as she was in her thoughts – when the door finally opened. She turned around. Margot motioned her to walk out. She was finally free.

"You're perfect."

The teenager grabbed her by the wrist and made her stop by the staircase. She checked her hairdo a very last time and nodded at nobody but herself.

"Now put this on your eyes."

Maura looked at the object the adolescent held out to her. A silk scarf. She frowned and grabbed the item.

"I have mascara on, Margot. I am afraid this isn't the best idea you..."

She didn't have time to finish her sentence. The teenager made her turn around and put the scarf into place herself before asking her to not move. Maura obliged in spite of feeling tense. She soon heard sitfled steps by her side and a moan she could identify as belonging to Jane. What was going on?

"Now give me your hands. I will guide you downstairs. We will go slow, don't be scared."

Mumbling their extreme confusion, Jane and Maura nonetheless let the teenager do and carefully took the stairs down. A slight pressure made them stop again after they made a few steps in what had to be the living-room. Maura smiled. Now it was clear: it smelled of chicken and rosemary.

"You can take your scarf off."

Both women did but froze as they came to face a candlelit living-room. Music was playing in the background, the table had been set elegantly; dishes waiting under cloches next to bottles of wine.

If a part had been revealed, Jane and Maura still needed an explanation over the whole thing, though.

Margot made a step forward then turned around to face them.

"Happy wedding anniversary!"

Silence. Under any other circumstances, Jane would have probably burst out laughing but this time, she was way too taken aback to simply react. Instead, she swallowed hard and stared at Margot.

"Angela told me it was today so... We both organized the evening for the two of you. No worries, I am not staying with you. I will spend the night with her in the guesthouse. Everything's ready, there is nothing to cook; nothing to do. You just can... Enjoy the evening. It's a special day for the two of you."

The dress. Jane looked down at the piece of clothing she was wearing. It all made sense: why the French girl had taken her on a shopping spree, why she wanted her to wear something new.

Something elegant.

And she couldn't tell Margot that it wasn't true. She couldn't tell her that it was not their wedding anniversary. What kind of mother would mix dates when it came to such important events?

"Thank you... It's... I don't have words...!" A sarcastic laugh highlighted her comment but Margot didn't seem to notice the slightest thing.

The student kissed them both on the cheek before trotting to the patio door. She winked at them and motioned out the living-room.

"The house is yours. Have a nice – memorable – evening."

...

Jane poured Maura another glass of wine. They had been drinking a lot; at first to face the surprise of such trap and then to simply go on. They had finished dinner – all cooked by Margot – and had now moved to the couch to enjoy a late-night talk by the fireplace.

The situation had completely taken them aback but – charmed by the idea – they had finally given in and spent a smooth evening together laughing at the whole thing even if none dared to mention a question that quietly haunted their respective minds.

Why? Why had Angela done this? The obvious answer was too loud to ever be said.

"Do all the French kids cook like this? That chocolate cake was... Perfection!" Jane settled further on the seat and shook her head in disbelief.

"I don't know but if they do, perhaps we should adopt one. These would be nice little extras from time to time." Maura's laugh filled the room warmly. She had completely relaxed now and allowed herself to make some jokes. "I hope that you didn't have anything else planned for tonight. If so then I am... Sorry..."

Jane took a sip of her own glass of wine. She folded her legs under herself and looked at her friend in delight.

"Aren't Friday nights _our_ nights, anyway?"

Maura nodded. Fair point. Unless one of them was out of town on a business trip, they always spent their Friday evenings together. It was _their_ day. Everybody knew that.

Although it was the first time one of their dates turned to be so romantic. None of them had dared to say so out loud, though.

"How would you spend your wedding anniversary if you actually were married?"

The question made Jane raise her eyebrows. She put her glass of wine down on the coffee table and sighed; stretched out her arms before settling back very close to Maura.

"Hmm let's see... Maybe a baseball game, something we'd do year after year; something that'd be... You know, like a tradition of some sort. Something simple. I hate birthday parties so I would not thrown any kind of party for a wedding anniversary either. Nah... That... That wouldn't be me!" She laughed timidly.

Maura closed her eyes. A peaceful smile embraced her lips and lit up her graceful features. Hand on the shawl she was holding tight, she nodded.

"Mine would be exactly like tonight. An intimate – romantic – dinner by the fireplace and when realizing that it is so late, we would simply cuddle and speak the night away in each other's arms." She opened back her eyes and kept on smiling as her whispered confession rose above their heads. She turned around and looked at Jane with seriousness. "Just like tonight, yes. Something sweet with the person who gives sense to my life."

Jane held her breath before Maura's meaningful words and – all of a sudden – she noticed how close to each other they both were sitting. So close it made her shiver when her friend's breath brushed her lips in silence. Had they got closer without her noticing it in the first place? Subconsciously?

She swallowed hard and didn't move an inch when Maura closed the distance between them with a kiss. A heartful one on her lips. Confusing at first; uncertain. Until logic embraced them and they full abandoned themselves to it.


	16. The Day After

_**Author's note: thank you very much for your reviews and messages. I am glad to see you survived the long torture previous to this "date to remember".**_

**Chapter fifteen: The Day After**

As the first drops hit her face, Jane closed her eyes and leaned her head backwards. She smiled at the sensation of the warm water on her numbed body sliding on her curves like a quiet reminiscence of the previous night.

She had woken up before Maura in the very first hours of the morning and - eager to let her lover sleep a bit longer - she had immediately walked to the bathroom to take a shower.

The events of the previous night were floating in her mind; a mix of sweetness and uncertainty before a blurry future. They had kissed – had made love – then had fallen asleep in each other's arms. She didn't regret any of this – on the contrary – but she didn't know what Maura thought about it, what she wanted from it.

They would have to speak, somehow. At some point. Unless a gaze would be enough to let the other understand about their personal wishes and desires.

Now that it had happened, Jane had the feeling that she was facing a thousand questions about herself that remained unanswered in spite of the efforts her brain made to give a semblance of explanation to the whole thing.

Had she always had feelings for Maura? Unless it was new? How had it happened? Why now? What was she supposed to do, to say? What did Maura want in the end?

Jane had no reference whatsoever anymore. Her life had crashed but not in a dramatic way at all. It was just time now to rebuild it only differently; with more honesty and assumed feelings. With a light over her head that would guide her through her actions. She was who she was; no matter it seemed to be a bit precarious for the moment.

A sound in her back made her turn around. Maura was standing by the door. She hadn't bothered putting on any piece of clothing. What for, anyway? Jane had spent the night kissing her skin, had let her hands wander on her curves almost endlessly.

Without a word and her eyes locked with Jane's, Maura approached her then stepped in the shower. Soon, the drops began to fall on her own body; tracing invisible paths on her skin. She hesitated, bit her lower lip.

A few seconds passed by before her hand finally sliding on Jane's nape. She leaned over and captured the Italian's lips for a long – delicate – kiss.

...

"You know what?" Jane closed the book and threw it on the bed in her back. "Let's skip math, it's so not worth it for a future librarian anyway. Right?"

Her gesture surprised Margot. The girl looked at the now empty desk a bit distressed but ended up giggling before the incongruous situation. She hadn't expected such reaction from Jane.

"If someone had told me one day that an adult would claim mathematics are an option..." She put back her pencil in her pencil case and cast a glance at Jane. "You are in a good mood, aren't you?"

Jane shrugged a bit too quickly to look casual. She coughed and looked down at her lap to hide better her red cheeks. In vain. Margot burst out laughing.

"I knew this romantic dinner was all you and Maura needed. See? Always listen to the moms, they know their children better than anyone else does!"

Jane was about to reply when she realized what Margot had just said. The French girl didn't speak very fast but she meticulously chose her words and didn't make many mistakes in the end.

She certainly had meant what she had said.

"What do you mean by '_moms_'? There's more than one in all of this?" The brunette traced some sort of invisible circle in the air with her index finger and made a face.

Margot had come back home around noon; late enough to find her and Maura sitting on the couch reading and listening to some music. Nothing flagrant that could have highlighted what they both had done during the night and earlier in the morning in the shower. The teenager had said 'hello' – had picked up an apple – then had headed straight to her room on the first floor to do her homework.

Thirty minutes later, Jane had been called to help her with her mathematics exercizes. Too bad Maura had left to walk Jo Friday and run a few errands, she would have been a better teacher.

"Well... Angela and Constance. They didn't let me know by then. Constance left for Paris and that's when your mother told me about their plan: the homemade dinner for your wedding anniversary. I liked the idea so I accepted to take part in it."

Jane closed her eyes and nodded. Now things were a lot clearer. Not necessarily comforting but nonetheless clearer.

_Be happy, Rizzoli. At least when you and Maura – I mean "if" you and Maura – want to make your... Relation... Official... You know you'll have your mothers' support. Fantastic. Ain't you lucky._

"And by the... Thing... On your neck, I can say you did enjoy our plan." Margot laughed. "Right?"

"Thing? What thing?" Jane stood up and rushed to the first mirror she found in the room. "Oh my God. Give me a scarf! Kid, help me!"

Margot walked to her closet to pick one and peacefully held out the accessory to Jane.

"What's the English word for it? A bruise?"

The detective shook her head and mumbled a negative answer through her clenched teeth. With an obvious lack of habit, she clumsily tied the scarf and straightened up.

"It's... Ahem... A hickey... Now back to mathematics!" She grabbed the book – walked back to the desk – and sat on her chair again. When had this happened?

Margot pouted and loudly sighed.

"But I thought a future librarian didn't need them?"

The main door got slammed downstairs. Maura's stifled voice reached Margot's bedroom as she talked to Jo Friday and Bass who had probably made it to the lobby.

"Jane? Where are you?" Pause. "Margot? Is anybody here?"

The French girl turned out to be the first one to react. She ran to the door of her bedroom – cast an amused glance at Jane – then turned back to the corridor.

"We're upstairs! It's math time!"

Needless to say that such announcement caused Maura to literally run upstairs to check how things were going. Jane rolled her eyes as she saw her friend storm in. Only a science nerd like Maura could see excitement in the idea of doing mathematics.

"What are you working on? May I help you?" The medical examiner finally noticed Jane sitting at the desk and frowned. "Why are you wearing a scarf? Are you cold?"

Her question made Margot laugh.

"You sucked on her neck too strongly last night... Or this morning. I don't know." The teen raised her hands innocently and shrugged. Saying she was enjoying Jane and Maura's mortified expressions was one big understatement. "At least you celebrated!"

What was going on? Jane offered her seat to Maura who – anyway – would solve the problems a lot faster than she would and walked to the door with her arms protectively crossed against her chest.

She knew that the French broached the subject of sex easier than Americans but she hadn't expected it from a teen; a sixteen-year-old girl who didn't seem to have much experience about it.

"Why are you two so uptight? You're both adults and married to each other. Having sex is logically part of your life, isn't it?" Margot frowned, squinted her eyes at Jane. "I don't understand."

"It is cultural..." And why was Maura so quiet? Couldn't she say something as well? Jane made a step towards her but stopped. Bad idea. Margot would probably make another comment about it.

"I left the grocery bags on the kitchen counter, would you mind putting everything in drawers and in the fridge while I help Margot with her mathematics exercizes? Oh and... Ice cubes work... Ahem..." Maura vaguely motioned her neck at Jane before looking down at the desk. "The cold works great."

Jane nodded and ran out of the bedroom with great relief. She walked down to the kitchen only to find her brother there by the fridge.

"Frankie? What the hell are you doing here?"

She hadn't even heard him enter the house and if Maura had seen him, she would have let her know. He had obviously just arrived.

"Well, good afternoon to you too... I'm waiting for ma'. We're going to the Capriatis."

A smirk curled up Jane's lips. She approached her brother and raised an amused eyebrow. Such piece of information was gold for the teaser she was.

"Is someone hoping to seduce Giulia Capriati...?"

Frankie snorted and opened the door of the fridge.

"She's married, Jane. Hey! Where's the beer?"

"At your _own_ place. What do you think it is, here? A Vegas buffet? C'mon! Go away from this fridge!" She closed the door back and pushed her brother on a side.

Frankie stared at her for a full minute before replying. Sixty seconds of a confusing observation that Jane didn't know how to face without feeling uncomfortable.

"Wow... Calm down, sis'. Is the married life getting on your nerves already? You know what the remedy is. Get lai-..."

The door of the patio opened and Angela came in, putting thus an abrupt end to a comment Frankie himself didn't really want to say. There were things he preferred to not to talk about with his sibling. It was one thing to make fun of Jane's fake marriage at the BPD but it was another one to allude to his sister's sexual life.


	17. What I Really Want

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your messages and reviews.**_

**Chapter sixteen: What I Really Want**

After the weekend she had lived, Jane could finally say that life was perfect. It had taken her almost forty years to reach this state of happiness - of blossoming - but the past wouldn't catch her back. Not this time. She wouldn't let it do that.

She had enjoyed her time with Margot – and once the night had fallen – had found back with an indescribable pleasure Maura's arms. The respectful distance between them in bed had finally disappeared. Their respective sides had joined, had melted. And it had never felt so right.

The doors of the elevator opened. She joyfully walked out of it and headed towards the reception. Ellen was there, this morning. Jane smiled at the woman brightly. They usually didn't speak much but nonetheless had a cordial relation.

"Good morning, Ellen. So what's so important that I needed to go downstairs? You know, I kind of have some work to do, actually." Jane winked and laughed to show the woman that she was only joking.

"Then I apologize and can come back later. I surely don't wanna interrupt something important."

The voice made her freeze. She straightened up immediately and swallowed hard. This was more than just bad timing. Jane turned around and stared blankly at Casey. This was a nightmare. There was no other word to describe it.

_What? You'd hoped he'd just disappear from the suface of Earth? Be realistic, Rizzoli! He had to come back at some point. _If only he had done so a bit later, though.

"What are you doing here?" She hadn't meant to sound cold – harsh – but it nonetheless turned that way, especially as she did not go for a hug nor anything. Instead, she kept a reasonable distance.

Casey made a step towards her but stopped as he noticed her lack of enthusiasm. It was not really the best place to have a conversation. Ellen was looking at them as if she were following a brand new season of her favorite soap opera and Jane's colleagues were everywhere around.

"Mornin', Rizzoli-Isles!"

_Of course. And here we go._

Jane closed her eyes. Five seconds. It had taken someone five seconds to say the only thing that she had hoped nobody would say. More and more confused, Casey frowned at her and immediately got a look at her hand.

"You got married... To Maura?"

End of the perfection of life. Jane shook her head and focused on the door behind Casey wishing nothing but to run away right now.

"It's a long story. Even if you have four or five hours ahead, I don't. There's..." She motioned out the ceiling. "We're quite busy upstairs. We landed a new case."

"Is a five-minute coffee break okay?"

As much as she felt like nothing but rushing back to her desk, Jane nodded. She and Casey had to speak, anyway. She owed that to him.

"Sure... But not at the _Division One Cafe_. Let's go outside. There are plenty of other spots where we can get our daily dose of caffeine, right?"

Her mother was working, this morning. There was no way Jane would bring her on a silver platter a brand new occasion to gossip about things she didn't know much.

...

As soon as she spotted Jane standing by the door, Maura pursed her lips – tightened her grip on the file she was holding – and straightened up. She had sworn to herself that she wouldn't throw a fit.

Not at the BPD.

She was the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massahusetts, for christ's sake; not a twelve-year-old hysterical teen.

But then she had also hoped that Jane would be nowhere to be seen. She wasn't part of the meeting that was about to start. She had no reason whatsoever to be there. Although she was. Maura took a deep breath and walked towards the door. She had no choice but to cross Jane's path.

"Hey!"

The hand didn't remain on her forearm for a long time. The death glare she shot at Jane turned out to be enough for the detective to take her distance again.

"You... Didn't return any of my messages?" Jane laughed, nervously. She made a step backwards to let other people come in and leaned against the wall. "... Why? You got busy?"

"I am not your _Cyrano de Bergerac_."

A whispered face-to-face. Maura had always despised these. They made her feel frustrated and she wasn't good at dealing with the whirl of emotions that took possession of her body by then. Yet her remark made Jane smile almost timidly.

"What do you mean?"

Maura rolled her eyes. She had no patience whatsoever; not now. She cast a glance at the officers who were coming in the room and shrugged at Jane.

"_Cyrano de Bergerac_ is a character..."

"I know who he is. I just don't get what you mean. Whom was I supposed to be flirting with that I'd need you to tell me what to do and... And such?" Jane felt uncomfortable. She hadn't expected such confrontation with Maura at all. It didn't make much sense. When the scientist hadn't replied to her text messages, she had simply assumed that she had been a bit too busy. These things happened. "Are you... Mad at me? What have I done?"

Maura didn't reply immediately. She rolled her eyes as her lips began to move in silence. She was hesitating. Finally and after long seconds of uncertainty, she gave in.

"Casey. Everyone knows that he came to visit you, this morning." The confession – hissed between clenched teeth – made Maura herself blush. She looked down but her gaze stopped on Jane's hand. "What did he say when he saw you were wearing a wedding ring?"

Jane shrugged. If the medical examiner's sudden coldness made a bit more sense now, she did not understand it much nonetheless.

"He laughed... But who cares about what he thinks?"

Maura laughed bitterly and raised an eyebrow in disbelief. She seemed taken aback by the question; honestly surprised.

"You don't care what people you date think? Really?"

An officer stopped and looked at her as he overheard the question. Jane waved him to leave them alone before focusing back on Maura. She didn't like the direction that the conversation was taking.

"I... We... Casey and I... We don't date each other."

"Oh, so you just fuck?"

Jane blushed. Maura was smirking but didn't seem satisfy of her own mischievous question. It hurt. It hurt way too much. They slept together and on the very next day, Jane's so-called boyfriend showed up from nowhere.

"I do admit that we flirted a bit and it was blurry but we..." Jane made a step closer to Maura and lowered her voice. "We never slept together." She paused for a couple of seconds but before such silence from the scientist, she felt the urge to add something. "We didn't even kiss!"

Maura snorted. The promise she had made to herself was going away little by little. She was about to make a scene. As a matter of fact, she _was_ making a scene.

They had slept together three nights in a row and she already played the possessive card. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

_Will you calm down now, Isles? He showed up unexpectedly. You know that. Just as you know how revealing your current reaction is._

"Then why did he come to visit you? Why are you the first person he wants to see when he comes back from Afghanistan? Not even his family... You _are_ his priority, Jane."

"Was. I was. Maybe. Maybe I was. He did come because he held hopes. Yes, you're right about that." Jane ran her tongue over her lips and shook her head. She was in a state of near panic. She hadn't expected Maura to be jealous of something as pointless as her so-called past flirt with Casey. "But we had a coffee this morning and I made things clear. I told him that I didn't want anything with him because..."

"Because what?" Maura frowned. She was too harsh but couldn't help it.

Jane did not necessarily deserve such treatment. She hadn't asked for Casey to show up. Not this time.

"Because all these things he wanted with me..." Jane looked down and laughed quietly at the logic of the words she was about to say. "I want them with you."

Maura remained quiet. Speechless, actually. They hadn't talked about anything yet, not even their possible feelings.

Two days. What did forty-eight hours mean in a life, in a relationship?

Jane had been very brave, here. And bold. Not only were they stuck in a small and crowded corridor where everyone – all their colleagues – could overhear their private conversation very easily but Jane had also made things clear with a bare sincerity. She hadn't hesitated. On the contrary. She looked determined.

"You... You do? Really?" The scientist's shaking voice rose quietly in the air. A delicate murmur highlighting her emotional surprise.

As Jane nodded – all smiles – Maura bit her lips and made a step towards her. She caressed her lover's cheek before echoing her smile. The world had stopped turning. They were both locked in their bubble, so far from the BPD.

"I'm sorry. I... I have been mean." Maura whispered a semblance of apology. She felt incredibly guilty. Touched.

Someone cleared his voice and made them jump in surprise. They turned around – taking distance with each other – only to find themselves facing an embarrassed Lieutenant Cavanaugh. The man looked at the scientist.

"If you're ready, Dr. Isles... We... We're waiting for you. Everyone's here."

Maura nodded and followed him inside but just as she was about to close the door behind her, she locked her eyes with Jane's – as the detective had remained in the corridor – and smiled before murmuring a 'thank you' she hoped would sound as meaningful as what her lover had just said.


	18. The Magellanic Tuco-tuco

_**Author's note: Thank you very much for your messages and reviews.**_

**Chapter seventeen: The Magellanic Tuco-tuco And Other Stories**

Maura pressed Jane's shoulder with her thumb and began to draw circles on the bone with a delicate regularity. Once she found the appropriate pace, she sat Indian style in her partner's back and closed her eyes. It was the best way for her to focus on the sensations stirred up by the massage that guided her movements as well as the level of pressure she needed to apply on the sore shoulder.

Jane sighed and leaned her head backwards in a gesture of obvious relief. The bath she had taken once she had come back home had slightly improved her general state but her shoulder nonetheless still hurt.

"Next time you need a box full of files, ask a taller colleague to help you. You could have suffered from a concussion, you know. It wasn't a smart move."

Maura's voice didn't reflect any reproach. The sweetness of her remark melted in the kiss that she planted on Jane's shoulder. A furtive one; light. Warm. She took a deep breath in the crook of her partner's neck before letting her lips brush Jane's skin again.

The detective straightened up and moved her shoulder to make her stop.

"Not the neck, Maura. Not again. Please. I'm not a scarf woman in case you haven't noticed yet. People'll be suspicious if I start showing up every day with something to hide my neck."

Maura obliged and leaned her forehead against Jane's shoulder. She laughed, passed a hand under her partner's shirt to hold her tight.

A week had passed by – barely a week since they had ended up in bed together for the first time – but Maura had the feeling that it had always been this way.

Their gestures of affection were logical and natural. They easily came up, all by themselves. Everything was smooth, enjoyable and strong. She had never experienced this in any of her previous relationships. It was different with Jane. Different and sweet.

"I can't believe you tried to climb these immense shelves all by yourself."

Jane shrugged but the gesture made her wince in pain. She needed to be careful, less brutal. At least nothing was broken nor sprained which meant that she didn't have to stick to paperwork at the BPD. She had avoided the worst.

"Call me Spiderwoman."

Maura sat up and raised an unconvinced eyebrow. She didn't want to ruin Jane's dreams to become a superhero of some sort but the incident the Italian had got earlier in the afternoon had actually been a great source of entertainment for all the units of the BPD.

Jane turned around to lock her eyes with Maura's hazel ones.

"Kiss of a spider woman...?"

The medical examiner tilted her head and squinted her eyes at Jane. Her ability to understand Jane's jokes had reached its limits.

"You compare yourself to Manuel Puig's novel? To Molina and Valentin?"

"No." Jane repressed the desire to sound harsher. "I was just joking around with the title and what I had said before..." No reaction. "That you can call me 'spiderwoman'? Got it?"

Maura nodded slowly and was about to reply when a knock on the door prevented her from doing so. Margot timidly walked into the room.

"Am I interrupting something... Again?"

Jane and Maura laughed lightly. The French girl was certain of walking in on them all the time since the date of their so-called wedding anniversary. Little did she know that she was now simply witnessing the live of a real couple, now.

Jane and Maura didn't hide much when at home. They touched – held hands – and kissed freely in front of Margot. But as soon as someone else arrived – someone close enough to them – they put back this respectable distance friends are supposed to have. They didn't want to say anything to anyone. Not just yet. It could wait a little.

"I hurt my shoulder at work. Maura's massaging it. What do you want, Frenchie?"

Margot cast a glance at the scientist as if to have a confirmation of what Jane had just said. She had arrived to Boston a month ago and perfectly knew by now how Jane and Maura's couple worked.

Jane was not the one who took the final decision over anything, especially regarding the house. It always depended on Maura. She had found it odd at first but had now got used to it and ceased to question herself about it. After all, Maura and Jane seemed to do just fine this way so it was not a problem.

"Angela is downstairs for dinner. She wants to know whether you want classic lasagna or salmon and spinach ones."

Jane made a face of disgust and got up right away. She rushed to the door.

"Since when is that even a question?" She stepped out of the bedroom and walked to the staircase. "Don't even dare to put fish and vegetable in the lasagna, ma'!"

Jane's reaction made Maura smile. In other circumstances, she may have complained and told her partner that eating fish and spinach was important for their daily diet but she didn't feel like being this kind of person, tonight. Jane had been hurt at work; she needed a break. Yet curious to see the face-to-face in the kitchen, she left her bedroom as well and walked downstairs.

First dinner with Angela since the wedding anniversary evening. First time they would be in the same room for more than thirty seconds. Some things would hardly have a chance to be avoided, now.

Jane had come to the conclusion that their mothers had simply plotted the scenario of the anniversary to make it all a bit more complicated; a harmless punishment for the lie they both accepted to say. Or at least that was what she said out loud. Maura didn't share her opinion but remained quiet on it.

She thought that her mother and Angela had tried to push them in each other's arms. They hadn't planned a joke but a real scenario to make sure that they would end up together.

Why? She had no idea whatsoever. Yet she strongly believed that it was how it had gone. Coincidentally, their plot had succeeded except they didn't know about it.

"Good evening, Maura."

The scientist smiled back at Angela as she walked in the kitchen and spotted Jane by the fridge, spoon in hand; ready to fight back at the next remark.

"Angela..." Maura walked slowly towards the matriarch. "I am going to assume that you were extremely _busy_ this week as we didn't see you here."

Jane didn't miss Maura's snarky tone. Surprised – happily surprised – she looked at her partner and smirked. They hadn't really planned anything to get their vengeance over the wedding anniversary but she surely liked the idea of verbal torture.

She nodded at Maura then looked at her mother.

"Working hard to offer us a second honeymoon to the Bahamas?"

Angela opened her mouth to reply but found herself speechless. She looked down at the counter and shook her head. The smile that curled up her lips betrayed her obvious amusement, though. She was well aware of what was going on. The game had just begun.

"Where did you go for your first honeymoon? What destination?"

Maura turned around. She had almost forgotten Margot. The adolescent had probably followed her when she had gone downstairs. She was now sitting on a stool, chewing on a slice of bread.

"We went to..." Jane took a deep breath but never had a chance to finish her sentence.

"Patagonia!" Maura almost screamed. Jane and Angela jumped in surprise and stared in disbelief at the scientist who now had to deal with an incongruous lie. "Patagonia is... A sparcely populated region located at the southern of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile."

Margot leaned her chin on the palm of her hand and pouted appreciatively.

"That's where you went to?" The girl didn't pay attention to Maura's very vague reaction. "That's... Unusual. But it must be cool. What did you see, there?"

Jane stifled a chuckle. Why on Earth had Maura said that? She should have let her make up a way more believable honeymoon destination.

"Now, this is an excellent question." She turned to her partner. "What was I supposed to see out there while I was in Patagonia, _Maura_?"

Angela giggled at the way her daughter pronounced the scientist's name. They were talented at putting themselves in complicated situations.

"The Magellanic tuco-tuco."

Jane blinked. Was this Maura's attempt to make a joke? Yet she seemed extremely serious; way too serious for someone who would have tried to fool a whole room.

"It is a subterranean rodent." Maura smiled at Margot - satisfied of her own answer – while Jane simply buried her face in her hands.

Only Maura could see in the observation of a rodent a honeymoon activity. It was definitely her science geek signature.

"Although Patagonia is more famous for its marine fauna: the southern right whale, the Magellanic penguin, the orca and elephant seals."

Margot nodded. She looked surprised but nonetheless interested.

"You saw all this, Jane?"

_Don't laugh now, Rizzoli. Don't do that. C'mon, be serious. Poor Margot's just asking a very random question. Answer._

Jane bit her lips to repress a laugh and finally looked up at the teenager. She swallowed hard, took a deep breath to control her voice.

"Oh yes. I absolutely looooved the tuco-tuco. Highlight of my honeymoon... Like, for real...!" She turned to her partner for confirmation. "Right, Maura?"

The scientist seemed to hesitate. She hadn't missed Jane's sarcasm, not this time.

"Well... It is not a type of rodent that you can see everywhere!"


	19. We All Have Dreams

_**Author's note: thank you all for the reviews and messages (and suggestions)!**_

**Chapter eighteen: We All Have Dreams**

"You need to drink. Maura said so. I mean Dr. Isles said so."

Margot looked at the glass of water that Jane was holding out to her as if it were poison. She shook her head but nonetheless obliged. A sip wouldn't kill her.

"You're dehydrated." Jane grabbed back the glass and put it down on the bedside table. She laughed. "I don't know why I tell you that, you probably know that already. You're like a mini-Maura."

"Sometimes it's good to have someone to remind you basic things, especially when you're sick. But it's just a stomach bug. I'll feel better tomorrow."

Jane nodded. She and Maura had nonetheless let Margot's parents know. The teenager had been sick all night but didn't seem to have temperature now. A day at home – in bed – should be enough for her to feel fine again.

"You're not hungry, right? Let me know when you feel like eating something. I'll cook you something." Jane folded her legs under herself and leaned her head backwards against the nightstand. She had sat on the floor by the bed. "And let me know if I piss you off. I can leave you alone if you wanna sleep a bit."

She had taken her afternoon off.

Maura had stayed home in the morning and she had taken the reigns right after lunch. It was strange to stay home to take care after a child. It had never happened to her before. Whenever she had looked after TJ, the little boy had been fine. She was playing the mommy card, right now. It was sweet, she liked that.

"I kind of like having you by my side although I could have stayed home alone. It's okay, I'm a big girl now. You didn't have to do what you and Maura did. It's very nice of you."

"Oh, come on! You're under our responsibility. What we're doing is perfectly normal. Besides... You made me skip what had chances to be a very boring meeting so I'll never thank you enough for it."

Margot laughed lightly as Jane winked at her. Even Jo Friday had joined them in the bedroom and was now sleeping soundly on the teen's legs. Jane was happy to see that her dog liked the French girl so much.

"You know..." Jane unfolded her right leg and held back a yawn. "You probably don't realize it but you've brought great changes to our life. And don't tell it to anyone but I'll miss you when you're back to France. Please, come back any time. I... I owe you a lot." Jane nodded at her own words, smiled. "I owe you everything, actually."

Her last comment made Margot frown. The lack of precision had made it sound mysterious. Blurry. But the adolescent didn't ask for an explanation. She nodded – touched – and closed her eyes.

"What's your biggest dream?"

The question surprised Jane. She hadn't expected any confession time whatsoever; a light chat – yes – but not something intimate like that. She nonetheless accepted the challenge and replied after long seconds of hesitation.

"To make time stop. Right now. I want everything to remain as it is, now. Maura... Me... Alright, I'd prefer you to be healthy but for the rest, I'd like it to always be as it is now. Because it's perfect and I'm happy. I'm very happy." The veracity of her own words made her smile. "What's yours?"

"To feel the same way as you do right now. Once I'm an adult. Then it will mean that I'll really have succeeded in life. Happiness is the only success one should ever try to reach."

...

What had started as an innocent game was slowly turning into something a lot bolder. As Jane hit the counter with her back, she bit Maura's lower lip by accident but tightened her grip on her nape nonetheless. It was not a minor injury that would stop her; no matter they were not home. Anyone could walk in on them but she didn't care much. She couldn't.

Her brain had stopped functioning when Maura had started kissing her jaw a few minutes earlier.

The BPD wasn't really packed, anyway. Most of units were gone and they had closed the door of the break room. Two more minutes and they would stop. Just two more minutes.

_One hundred and twenty seconds, Rizzoli. You can start counting. Wait, no. Don't do that. Focus on Maura instead. That should definitely be your priority, you, idiot!_

For once, she had to admit that she couldn't agree more with her wise – inner – voice. And as if the medical examiner had read her mind, she suddenly gave more depth to their kiss; more boldness to her slow but suggestive caresses.

The hips. Maura always started by the hips only to travel up then towards Jane's lower stomach. Her fingertips brushed it and played with the fabric of the shirt that separated them from the skin.

If she hadn't been stopped by then she slowly kept on moving up. Jane's sides, her breasts under the palm of her hands.

Maura had never had any inhibition when it came to sex but even less with Jane. Perhaps she had been a bit timid the first time they had slept together but the sentiment was long gone now and she fully gave into it. Freely.

"Jane, I'd need..."

And this is how Frost saw her. A hand on Jane's right breast, the other one on her buttocks while the kiss had won in intensity. They froze and snapped their heads in direction of the door that was now opened.

Well done.

"Oh." Frost blinked, frowned. He was still standing by the door, uncertain of whether he should step inside the room or not. Then – suddenly – his face lit up and he burst out laughing. "What is it that I always walk in on you when you're with a woman, Jane?"

The comment took Maura completely aback. She made a step backwards and raised an eyebrow at Jane. She wasn't shocked by the idea but it hadn't crossed her mind until then. As a matter of fact, she hadn't wondered about it at all. Never. But now that she thought about it, she had to recognize that at no moment had Jane showed the timidity of novices.

"You... Had sex with women before?"

Maura heard Frost chuckle but didn't pay attention to it. He had walked in on them and obviously they would all need to talk about it but for the moment, her priority laid somewhere else.

Jane opened her mouth to reply but not a single sound came out of her mouth. She tilted her head – cast a glance at Frost – and squinted her eyes at Maura. What a strange way to let her know a few things about her past.

"Once...?"

"Who?" This time and unlike with Casey, it wasn't jealousy. No. Maura's curiosity was talking for her. It wasn't major information but still something unexpected. "When?"

_Well done, Frostie. Really. _

Jane sighed. Did she really have a choice now? She shot a death glare at her colleague who was still standing by the door and made a vague gesture of the hand to Maura.

"A few years ago... At this national conference thing in Washington. With..." She looked down, a bit embarrassed. She had never talked about it to anyone. "Cartwright...?"

Maura gasped but her lips immediately curled up in an amused smile.

"Are you kidding me?"

Jane shook her head but took it bad somehow. She preferred such kind of reaction from Maura than the scene she had thrown a week earlier but she didn't see what was really funny about all of this.

"Hey! A bit of respect, please. Cartwright is cute. Tall, blond, blue eyes..."

"Yeah, the Barbie type." Frost winked at Maura. "I walked in on them the morning after. They were still sleeping in bed, their clothes scattered on the floor. I thought Jane'd learned her lesson and now locked the doors when she didn't want to be interrupted but it seems like she hasn't."

Jane didn't pay attention to the remark. Instead, she made a step towards Maura and observed her from head to toe in the same way she used to do for a suspect.

"What about you? Have you never... You know...?"

The question was fair enough but it didn't please Maura much. She pouted – adjusted her top to win some time – and shrugged evasively.

"Maybe once in college... I mean, with one person?"

"Oh my god. Your roommate? The one with the tattoo on..." As she realized what she was saying, Jane put her hand in front of her mouth and gasped. "Don't tell me that's why you have a tattoo!"

She hadn't forgotten such detail – especially after having taken all her time to kiss it and more – but she had just made the connection between both. Maura had talked to her about a tattooed roommate a long time ago. Now it all made so much sense.

"You have a tattoo, Dr. Isles?"

Maura looked at Frost. He really had interrupted them at the wrong time. She nodded at him - trying to not think too much of her position as a chief medical examiner right - and then at Jane.

"Are we done, now?" There was no competition though. Maura was joking.

The slight hesitation Jane first showed quickly turned into a nod. Of course, they were. She couldn't care less about it even though she was now dying to know some more about the story.

But one thing at a time.

She turned around and looked at Frost. They needed to have a talk and now.


	20. What Constance Thinks And Says

_**Author's: thank you very much for all the suggestions, messages and reviews; it's a pleasure to read them and I'll do my best to insert your ideas in this story one way or another.**_

**Chapter nineteen: What Constance Thinks And Says**

"Where's your wife, Rizzoli? I'd need her opinion on something."

_Here we go..._

Not bothering to look up from her computer screen, Jane shrugged and rolled her eyes; her face still leaned against the palm of her hand. She was in full digestion, close enough to fall asleep. If someone turned the lights off, chances were she would take a nap no matter she was at work.

"Dunno. Try Patagonia."

She repressed a yawn and clicked on the mouse. A bright picture appeared on the screen, she stared at it blankly.

"What's that? A lab?"

The question made her freeze. Sadly, her colleague wasn't joking. Some detectives at the BPD had very poor geographical knowledge.

_Who are you kidding? If you know most of these stuff, it's thanks to Maura._

She slowly looked up at the guy – pondered the idea of making fun of him – but finally gave up. She was too lazy, too sleepy for it.

"Have you tried to call her office?"

Detective Jameson nodded.

"Yeah and her assistant told me she was at the hospital."

Jane waited for a few seconds but her colleague didn't add anything. End of his explanation. Was he trying to piss her off more than the usual? He had probably lost a bet during lunchtime or something. She refused to believe that he could be so dumb and lack logic.

"Then you have your answer. Why did you come to me? Just for the pleasure to ask about _my wife_? If so get over it. It's getting old."

"Yes and no. Actually, I'm here because of your mother-in-law. She sent you a letter." Jameson held out an envelope.

Jane frowned. She hadn't noticed that her colleague had anything in hand. She grabbed it – sat up – and stared at it.

"You're the mailman, now? Got promoted?"

Jameson smiled and shook his head before turning on his heels a bunch of files under the arm. As he started walking away, he raised his index finger to disconfirm Jane's question.

"I crossed Ellen in the lobby and she asked me to give it to you. Happy reading! Or good luck... It's never good when you get a letter from the in-laws. And stop the Yellowstone diaporama."

_It's Patagonia, idiot._

Jane preferred to ignore his last comment and waited to be alone to open the envelope. Frost was at a trial and Korsak had a meeting at a shelter. It was a quiet afternoon; almost boring. But something told her that Constance's letter might finally spice it up a little bit. Or at least would it bring an ounce of mystery.

_She doesn't know about emails? So weird. _

Jane took the letter out of the envelope and grabbed her mug of coffee. She sat further on her seat and began to read.

_Dear Jane,_

_By the time you get this letter, I will have left Paris and will be in Tokyo for an exhibition but I have actually written it during my stay in Boston. I simply assumed by then that it was too early to give it to you. One has to be patient in life; I have always reminded Maura about it._

_Maura. You will probably have guessed by now that she is the reason why I am writing this letter to you. _

_I have seen the two of you behave with each other. I have had time to observe your gazes, your gestures of affection. As a matter of fact, it struck me the very first time I met you. The evidence was there. I just didn't assume by then that you would need any external help. _

_I have never liked playing the matchmaker if only because I tend to think that people should come to their senses by themselves. Sadly, it didn't happen for you and Maura. This is the reason why I asked your mother, Angela, to help me help the two of you. _

_The context was perfect, let's face it. Maura had elaborated one of her incongruous plans and I just couldn't let pass this opportunity. _

_Sadly, I don't have my daughter's boundless imagination and I have to admit that the scenario of a wedding anniversary was incredibly stupid. Blame it on the lack of time I had as well... As much as I had been thinking about the two of you for a while, I hadn't gone as far as elaborating a scenario in my head. _

_By the time I seal this envelope, I will have no idea how the evening will have gone and this is why I have decided to write this letter to you. Just in case. _

_Maura is in love with you. She has been for a while but I doubt that she has been aware of it for so long. I don't need to tell you about your own feelings; you know them way too well yourself. _

_It isn't a secret for anyone in your entourage either. They simply don't dare to let you know about it. _

_I don't know if my ridiculous plan worked out but if it didn't then at least I know that this letter will make things clear. _

_Nobody ever did half of what you did for my daughter. She has changed so much since you have got to know each other. She blossomed; at last. Her lack of confidence has slightly – discreetly – faded away. You brought her what she exactly needed, probably without even knowing it. The only thing missing now is the acceptance of your feelings and your confession to her. _

_Please, don't be scared. Don't run away. Go tell my daughter how you feel, not only because it is ok – because we are all fine with it – but because when you have found the love of your life, you shouldn't be allowed to let it go; to miss your opportunity. Maura is your soulmate. This is very rare. This is why you need to embrace what is happening and assume it. _

_Maura and I have never been very close but I still know her very well. She won't run away. She will be taken aback at first but will open her heart to you little by little. She trusts you. She loves you. It is all what she needs to give in and be happy with you._

_If my plan actually worked out and you have now started a relationship with my daughter then don't change the slightest thing. _

_Keep on loving her – on taking care of her every day – the way you have always done. Assume it, live it openly. There is nothing to fear, not from people who love you. _

_You have my blessings, as well as my husband's, and I am very proud to welcome you into our family. _

_A very last thing, though. You know that we are atheist, but open-minded. Thus – if you want to get married at church – I think we can make an exception. Maura will and __I would do anything to see my daughter all smiles, marrying the right person. Absolutely anything._

_Take care,_

_Constance. _

The words began to turn blurry but this wasn't caused by tears. Jane's hands were simply shaking.

She had read the letter in one go, without even paying attention to the noises around her. Maura's mother's words had cut her from the rest of the world and now that reality was hitting her back – rather sweetly, though – she felt strange, funny.

The first time she had met Constance had been tough but very quickly she had understood how the artist worked. She wasn't a bad person and – little by little – Jane had learned how to accept all the remarks she now took for the artist's singular temper.

Yet at no moment had she ever assumed that Constance would write such letter; that she would be so honest and caring.

"Rizzoli? Rizzoli!" Lieutenant Canavaugh clapped his hands to get his employee's attention. "Are you alright? I've been talking to you for five minutes or so and I got no reaction."

Jane nodded. The truth was that she felt numbed and out of place. She needed to see Maura, to call Constance. To do a thousand things. Yet the only thing she was doing was sitting at her desk and it was frustrating.

"Yeah... Sorry... What do you want?"

Cavanaugh opened his mouth to reply but renounced at the last minute. He shook his head as a shy smile played on his lips.

"Listen, it's a slow day... Why don't you take your afternoon?"

"What?!"

The man shrugged and buried his hands in the pockets of his pants. It was obviously not what he had had in mind in the first place but his enthusiasm was starting to show nonetheless.

"This isn't the kind of offer you'll get every day, Rizzoli. Not from me... Take your jacket and enjoy some time out. You deserve this break."

Cavanaugh didn't wait for an answer. He turned around and walked back to his office. The moment he slammed the door, Jane began to laugh lightly. All alone. What was going on? Had he lost a bet as well or she needed to worry about his mental sanity?

The door of the office got opened and Cavanaugh poked his head.

"I said: go!"

Jane stood up – nodding at him in spite of her confusion – and grabbed her jacket.

"Ok... I'm ahem... I'm off... I'm... I'm off."

Strange day.


	21. Belonging To The Moment

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews!**_

**Chapter twenty: Belonging To The Moment**

"Go away!" Jane cast an amused gaze at Maura and pretended to push her away. Fail. She giggled instead. "Go away, food thief!"

Naturally, Maura saw the remark as an invitation to approach. She passed a hand on her partner's hip and buried a finger in the dough before bringing it to her mouth. Jane turned around looking desperately for the medical examiner's eyes then smiled at her.

It was just a moment of complicity. Sweet, heartwarming. The kind of scenes she had got used to since she had moved in.

But this is also when she noticed her brother's presence in the kitchen. Beer in hand, Frankie was staring at them with confusion. She shrugged at him, on the defensive.

"What're you looking at?" She looked down to follow the angle of his eyes and realized that he had been focusing on Maura's hand on her hip. She moved away from the embrace immediately. "Don't you have better things to do than sneaking in the kitchen? I doubt you came here to cook."

Jane's remark had been cold, too much perhaps. Thankfully, Maura faced the situation with more serenity and offered Frankie another beer before suggesting him to join Margot - Frost - and Korsak on the couch to watch the football game on television.

Case: closed.

Or so. Angela hadn't missed a bit of what had just happened but when Maura turned around and looked at her, the matriarch remained quiet and immediately focused back on the gnocci as if nothing had happened.

Since Margot was feeling better, they had decided to host a Sunday lunch with friends and relatives. The French girl seemed to love these and had been delighted when Jane had told her about it.

After all, it was also a great opportunity for Margot to speak English with more people at the same time. She could take advantage of it to prepare her upcoming listening test.

"Are you sure you don't want to come to the movies with Margot and I? She would really like it."

Jane avoided Maura's gaze but didn't miss her mother's eyes on her. She wasn't thrilled at the idea of attending a three-hour French movie right after a lunch. It was a dangerous combination and she did know - from experience - that Maura would take it bad if she happened to fall asleep at the theater.

"Nah... We're gonna work a bit on a case with Frost and Korsak. But I'll go to the stand-up thing on Tuesday though."

Two weeks and a half. In two weeks and a half, Margot would be back to France and Jane had more and more of a hard time accepting the idea. What would happen once the teen left Boston? She had got used to her presence, to pretend a few things. She didn't miss her own apartment and didn't feel like going back to it. As a matter of fact, her life previous to this fake wedding seemed to belong to the past and that as much as she knew that what she was having now was a mere parenthesis in her life.

"Okay. By the way, I have booked the rooms for Salem. We will leave on Friday and come back on Sunday evening."

Jane nodded. They were running out of time but desperately tried to catch back on it nonetheless. Their schedule for Margot had turned into a very detailed one made of a thousand activities and visits. Anything to not think about the student's departure.

"Great. Which hotel did you choose? The one we liked?"

Maura grabbed a dish towel to dry her hands and made a step closer to Jane in a way their hips may touch each other. A subtle move that elicited a smile on the Italian's lips.

"Yes. It seemed to be a nice one and the breakfast looks delicious!"

Her comment made Angela burst out laughing. She shook her head – almost in disbelief – and made a face as she realized that Jane and Maura were looking at her, surprised by her reaction.

"You two surely sound like a married couple. A quiet, cute one. You don't even argue anymore!"

Jane immediately cast a glance at the couch where Margot was sitting. She hadn't overheard it, too busy trying to understand the rules of football Frost and Frankie were explaining to her. Korsak seemed not as concentrated on the screen. He was gently talking to Bass who had stopped by his feet.

"Must be thanks to our little wedding anniversary celebration."

The reply was snarky but Angela didn't seem to mind. She had got used to it, anyway. Jane did not stop making allusion to the evening in question just to make her mother embarrassed.

In vain. She only got laughter and smiles in return every time she tried.

"I guess that we have good training, now." Maura winked at Jane then walked to the fridge to grab a bottle of wine.

They hadn't said anything about their couple yet in spite of Constance's letter. When Jane had held it out to her, Maura hadn't been surprised. Just touched by the gesture.

A typical Isles move: unable to say anything out loud so they expressed their feelings by pouring them out on a sheet of paper instead.

They hadn't come to any specific conclusion yet, hadn't changed the slightest thing about what they were living. They hadn't put words on it but didn't feel the need to do so. It was clear enough. Odd and unexpected but clear. What would happen next? She didn't know. Nobody did.

But if there was one thing she was sure of, it had to be the way their relationship would be maintained over time.

It wasn't a fling.

"So I think that everything is ready..." Bottle in hand, Maura walked to the couch. "The meal is just about to be served."

Television off. Everyone was starving.

...

"Your daughter is extremely polite. You and your husband did a good job."

Maura smiled at the compliment in spite of the erroneous facts. She cast a brief glance at the toilets door but since Margot didn't seem to be about to reappear, she took the time to correct the waitress.

"She isn't my daughter. Just a... Guest. A friend. And there is no man in my life. I am not married."

"Oh. A pity you're single. How come? You're nice and good-looking!" The employee put the empty cup of coffee on her tray and winked. "You'd be a fantastic mother... Look at the way you are with a teenager... You have a great maternal instinct. Hurry up and make a baby."

"I am not single." Maura spotted Margot on her left. The girl was heading straight back to the table. "I am with a woman. We don't have children."

Margot sat back on her seat just on time to hear the last sentence. She grinned.

"Yet. You don't have children _yet_. I hope the next time I come, I will babysit your and Jane's child." She grabbed the paper napkin and began to fold it, out of boredom. "I can totally see you with two children. A boy and a girl. That'd be cool. Have you already talked about it with Jane?"

Maura blushed as she felt Margot and the waitress' gaze on her. She had remained extremely vague on motherhood when the association had asked her about it, playing with words and how Margot's presence could be a nice test for a potential maternity.

"You should think about it. I don't know what your partner looks like but if the kids look like you, they'll be terrif'!"

The waitress giggled with Margot and finally left the table to clean another one a bit further. Maura sighed of relief. She wasn't prepared for this. They had just spent the last two hours in the dark at a small and independant movie theater downtown and as much as she had just had a coffee, her brain wasn't yet on the right mode to properly function.

Not for such kind of topics.

"She's right, you know. You'd be good moms. For some reason, I see Jane being pregnant. Not you. She has no patience whatsoever so a pregnancy would be a huge challenge for her. Or Jane first... And then you. What do you think? You're married. You must have talked about it already. I know you... This isn't the kind of conversation you wouldn't have had."

Maura's smile faded away. She had hoped that Margot wouldn't keep on talking about it. It was too delicate but she didn't have much of a choice right now. She was trapped and owed the French girl an answer.

"I don't know if I want to be a mother. I am not certain that..." She shrugged and looked down at the table to avoid Margot's gaze on her. "What we are doing with you has little to do with parenting. If I have to be honest then I will tell you that – I thought about it at some point in my life – but now... The uncertainty I had by then has now turned into the sentiment that I am not made for it. Do you see what I mean?"

Margot frowned. It wasn't the answer she had expected in spite of Maura's honesty. She remained quiet for long seconds, observing the scientist with meticulousness. Finally, she raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"I think you're wrong. Just as you belong to Jane – to the life you have with her – I think maternity is the only thing that is really missing right now for the two of you. You just don't realize it and I'm afraid that you'll wake up one day realizing it's too late."


	22. I Love You

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages (I promise to reply to your PMs very soon)**_

**Chapter twenty-one: I Love You**

Her hand followed the spine down to the lower back. She stopped – leaned over – and planted a kiss just above her thumb. The skin was hot under her lips, soft.

The gesture made Jane laugh quietly but the Italian kept her eyes closed to focus better on the sensations stirred up by Maura's massage.

"What are you doing?"

Jane suddenly felt air on her legs, just where Maura had been sitting all along. The sound of a pair of hands landing on both sides of her head made her assume that her lover was just above her. She soon got the confirmation as Maura's hot breath brushed her left ear.

"Nothing. Wait for a second and don't open your eyes."

Jane obliged. The rustling of a thin fabric made her frown. The mattress moved under her own body but it is only when she felt Maura's breasts against her back – the heat of her bare legs on hers – that she understood that the medical examiner had simply taken her clothes off to lie naked on top of her.

End of the massage.

Maura's hands began to follow a parallel path to the kisses she planted along her spine; going up as slowly as she could. As the scientist's hair brushed her back in subtle carresses, Jane swallowed hard. She smiled in anticipation; bit her lips to restrain a sigh.

"Let me do."

Maura's murmur slid on her ear just as she passed a leg between hers to make her turn around. Now on her back, Jane took a deep breath and buried a hand in her lover's hair. The house was quiet and she could hear the rain falling down softly outside. A strange lullaby echoing her first moans as she felt Maura's lips capture her breasts. A game of twists - bites - and caresses.

She laughed.

"You're teasing me."

Her mouth back on Jane's neck, Maura echoed her partner's laugh. Her hand kept on tracing circles on her lover's inner thigh; wandering closer and closer to the only spot Jane was dying for.

"And you love it, don't you?"

Jane pouted. It wasn't a fair game. Maura knew perfectly well what turned her on, what drove her on the edge. It hadn't been a long time since they had reached such level of intimacy but Maura seemed to really know her better than any of her previous dates had ever had. Their connection was different.

More powerful.

"I love you."

The words passed her lips sweetly before hitting the air with a clear honesty. She opened back her eyes and stared at the ceiling. Maura had frozen; her lips against her earlobe, her hand between her legs. She swallowed hard.

They had never said it out loud. Not until now. None of them really had doubts about the other but still, it was the first time that it came up. Out of the blue.

Maura leaned up on her elbows – positioned herself right on top of Jane – and locked her eyes with her partner's. Her lips were so close to the detective's mouth that she could feel its taste, its warmth.

She smiled. Timidly at first; uncertain of the way she was supposed to react. A wave of heat passed underneath her skin and rushed to her heart where self-confidence finally settled in.

"I love you more."

Jane burst out laughing. She passed her arms around Maura's waist and they both rolled on a side. Legs intertwined; lost in each other's eyes. She shook her head in delight.

"It's not a contest!"

But it surely was the happiest day of her life.

...

"Do you want some coffee?" Maura held out a mug for her and grinned.

A cloud. Jane had been walking on a cloud since the night before. They had fallen asleep in the first hours of the morning only to wake up at dawn carried on by a frenzy of feelings – a desire to touch and feel – stronger than anything.

She nodded at the question and leaned against the counter as her lover passed soft arms around her waist. Something told her that she wouldn't have her coffee right now but she couldn't care less.

Maura's fingertips brushed her bare hips and she laughed in their kiss. Considering the slow pace they were following, they would probably be late at work but Jane didn't mind. All she wanted was to stay in Maura's arms – half-naked in the kitchen – and let the hours fly away through kisses and caresses. A sweet morning. A very sweet one.

The rest could wait.

Her hand slid on the medical examiner's nape. She dragged her closer to her face to deepen the kiss. Maura gently obliged, her bare leg sliding between Jane's. Margot would be up in an hour. It left them plenty of time for a rather intimate breakfast of some sort.

A stifled sound slightly made Jane jump. It had come from the living-room. Probably Bass. She did not pay too much attention to it and preferred to focus on the kiss instead, on Maura's fingers playing with the hem of her shirt and her knee brushing her inner thigh playfully.

"See you at the BPD, girls!"

The main door got slammed. They froze.

_No. No no no no no. Not that. No. You're just hearing things that don't exist, Rizzoli. It's okay. Don't panic. I said: don't panic. Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing._

"Oh God."

Jane made a face. Maura's reaction wasn't helping. She reluctantly looked up at the door. Of course it was too late and her mother was gone, now. Her mother. How had this happened? How come she hadn't heard her come in – cross the living-room to pick up the mail that had disappeared from the desk as Jane could now see it – and walk to the door to leave? It was unbelievable. Completely unbelievable.

"Maybe she didn't see us...?"

Maura stared at her as if she had lost her mind. Fair enough. Her comment didn't make sense at all. Her mother had talked to them before leaving. That was enough of a fact to prove the opposite. Of course, she had seen them.

She had seen them wearing nothing but a shirt and hipsters, making out rather suggestively against the kitchen counter at 6am. This couldn't be good. Not at all.

_And welcome back to reality, Rizzoli._

Maura moved to the fridge, not really knowing what to say. Thousand of sentences were bumping onto each other in her head but her brain was unable to pick one for her to say out loud. She was just as embarrassed as Jane was. Although if she had to be honest, her partner was actually closer to a state of panic than anything else.

"I think... Ahem... I think I'll have a shower now." Jane turned around – still shocked – and began to slowly walk to the stairs. End of the festivities. Back to reality. Harshly.

"Wait!"

She stopped. Maura grabbed her wrist and forced her to look at her in the eyes. She did. Maura looked sorry but oddly determined. Her embarrassment was gone.

"Maybe we should say something... At some point...?"

_If this is your way to be brave, Isles, next time you can shut up. Really. Your remark isn't helping at all right now. It sounded more like a question than anything._

Jane looked down and sighed. As much as she knew that it was the next step, she wasn't eager to go and make it. She liked it the way it was now. All quiet and secretive. Frost had promised to not say anything and she trusted him. Things would be different once it became official. She wasn't ready.

But she didn't have much of a choice, now.

She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. It wasn't the end of the world. Constance had made it clear that her mother was okay with it. Anyway, she wasn't afraid of saying it. No. She just didn't want to share it with anyone because it only belonged to her and Maura.

Once in the open, everyone would claim a bit of it – if only indirectly – and she hated that. They would lose the freedom they were having now.

_There are many things you need to talk about, with so many people. You might not like it but it's how life works and you know it. It's time for you to assume it, Rizzoli._

"We will get through it. You don't have to worry about it."

She nodded. Maura was right. Together, they could do it. They were a team, they had always been one; a fantastic one, besides. They wouldn't suffer from it. She wouldn't let it happen, anyway.

"I love you." Maura's voice brought warmth to her heart.

She let her take her in her arms and welcomed the kiss on her cheek with a smile. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard until her lips curled up in a smile.

"I love you more."

Maura laughed and looked up at her lover.

"I thought it wasn't a contest."

Jane pouted – pondered the words – and wrinkled her nose.

"I changed my mind." She shrugged. "And I win."

"I doubt so..."

Maura leaned up on her tiptoes and captured Jane's lips for a long - sincere - kiss. What could she say? They both had a competitive spirit. Some things would never change, obviously.


	23. Relax and Live

_**Author's note: thank you/gracias/merci for all your reviews, I am really happy to see that you like this story so much. **_

**Chapter twenty-two: Relax and Live**

"Are you sure you don't want extra whipped cream? We can ask for more. Really. I don't like it at all when there's not enough whipped cream. It's not... You know, it's not the same and..."

"Jane!"

End of her monologue. Jane swallowed hard but kept on avoiding her mother's gaze. She still had a hard time looking at her in the eyes. It was ridiculous and she knew it but she couldn't help it either. She had tried but it wouldn't work.

She had felt uncomfortable since the exact moment when her mother had spotted the two of them in the kitchen in a rather compromising situation. Half-naked.

Eleven hours and twelve minutes earlier to be more precise.

At least they hadn't waited for too long before having a necessary face-to-face with her mother. This should spare her several nights of insomnia.

As soon as they had left the BPD, she and Maura had invited Angela to share a waffle and a hot drink. They couldn't keep on pretending anymore. It was stupid. Some things needed to be said and done. And the sooner, the better.

"I have enough whipped cream, thank you very much." Maura looked down at her plate and let her whisper – an almost inaudible one – pass her lips.

She didn't particularly feel better than her partner in spite of the cheerful message she had passed to her in the morning.

She still was determined to make things clear but it appeared to be a lot harder – and delicate – than what she had imagined. There was something intimidating in this face-to-face; something she had never lived until now.

"Are we really going to talk about waffles?" Angela smirked. She was amused by the whole thing. It was ridiculous enough for her not to enjoy it for a while. "I used to take Jane to the _Waffle Factory_. Quite a long time ago, obviously... I guess she was four or five by then." She looked at her daughter. "Do you remember it? You loved this place."

Jane nodded, still focused on the door on her right. She wanted to die at the scene, been swallowed by the ground that would open at her feet. The situation was incongruous. She had never had to make any of her past relationships official before. Not like that.

As a matter of fact, she had always tried to keep the news far enough from her family. Even in high school, nobody really knew whether she was dating someone at the time. She didn't like sharing this kind of things.

"Yeah. And I used to order the one I got today: strawberries and whipped cream." She smiled. "With a glass of milk."

Silence. Maura cleared her voice – moved on her seat – but didn't say the slightest thing. It seemed like nobody was eager to talk. The three of them knew the reason why they were there but none of them wanted to actually mention it. Jane bit her lower lip.

The silence was loud. The proof that it was still delicate in spite of letters and secret evening dates.

"I guess it is the first time that I actually go to a _Waffle Factory_. My parents never took me to one as a child; neither did my nannies. They seem... They seem delicious, though."

Angela politely smiled at Maura. The scientist had not come up with a very interesting fact but at least she tried; she really did. And it was better than nothing.

"Oh, that's too bad."

Maura nodded. She wasn't convinced by the semblance of conversation but nonetheless accepted to play along. It was still better than this terrible silence she didn't know what to make of.

"Isn't it?"

"Oh, please! Will you just stop? The two of you! Enough with the... Sham convo." Jane tightened her grip on her cup of coffee and finally locked her eyes with her mother's. She shrugged. "Yeah, we're together. Satisfied?"

She was on the defensive and it wasn't a good sign. The sharpness of her tone simply betrayed her discomfort. Angela understood this immediately and didn't take it badly. A timid smile lit up her features. She looked sorry.

"You didn't have to offer me a waffle to let me know. I had guessed it somehow..." She blushed and looked down at the table.

Her reaction took Jane aback. It was the first time she saw her mother somehow intimidated by her romantic life. Until now, Angela had always been very invasive if not just harrassing regarding her potential dates but now it seemed like she didn't know what to say either. Everything had changed. All of a sudden.

"And you want a medal for that?"

Jane shook her head then raised her hands in the air to apologize as soon as Maura frowned at her. She was being awful for absolutely no reason.

_Stop that, Rizzoli. You'll regret it even more and you know it._

A cell phone rang – loud – at their table. It was Maura's. She grabbed it – stood up – and left to go answer the call a bit further. Jane bit the inside of her cheeks. Perfect timing for a face-to-face with her mother. Or not.

Silence.

Angela finally broke it with a light giggle. Her face leaned against the palm of her hand, she shook her head out of despair. Why was it so hard for her daughter?

"It's okay, Janie. You're not doing anything wrong."

Jane frowned and tilted her head. It was now easier to properly look at her mother. She felt alright doing so. Yet her latest remark began to weigh on her shoulders.

"I know and I'm not ashamed of it. It's just... Why do we have to make a special announcement? It's stupid. Next thing I know, I'll be publishing it in _The Boston Herald_ making sure it'll appear in their headlines... Front page and all. Can't we just live it without having to organize a whole freaking ceremony of some sort..."

She stopped talking as soon as she felt her mother's hand on her wrist. Angela pressed it tightly with all the care in the world. The care only a mother could bring.

"You don't have to. People will see it by themselves at point. Actually, most of them already do. I'm no exception. Don't hide and that's it. Nobody will ask you for any detail and if someone does, you're still free to not answer. It's your life..." Angela grabbed her fork and started eating her waffle. "I already know the only thing I need to know: Maura makes you happy, _you_ make her happy. You love each other. The rest is yours... Enjoy it."

"Is this your way to tell me you won't send a super long letter to let me know I have your blessing?"

The question made Angela frown. She didn't seem to understand what her daughter meant. Jane did not insist and rolled her eyes instead. She waved her hand apologetically.

"I was just asking in order to know if I had to start a letter collection or something."

...

She had learned it herself, a long time ago. She remembered every single detail, every trap she had had to avoid; the delicacy of the pace and its constant changes. It seemed simple like that – from the outside – but it was actually a tough piece.

A tough piece Margot played perfectly.

She had asked as soon as she had come back from school; her backpack hanging on one shoulder, a couple of books under the arm. Jane had said yes right away and there she was now, listening how a sixteen-year-old brought back to life her piano.

Margot showed sweetness – determination – and delicacy. The keys seemed to slide under her long fingers as if it were meant to be. Jane had never reached such level. She found it bewitching.

Maura came to sit by her side but she remained focused on the piano. She was moved. The melody was a source of powerful reminiscences, from the lessons she had taken to the day these scars had appeared on her hands and the instrument had turned quiet. She had killed it, to an extent.

All of a sudden, Margot turned her head around and motioned her to approach. Jane obliged but as she understood what the French girl wanted, she shook her head vehemently. She wouldn't sit there. She wouldn't play.

She had sworn it to herself.

Margot insisted. In silence. Still focused on the piece she was playing. Schubert. Jane had had no problem whatsoever to recognize the composer's work but it belonged to another life for her. After long seconds of hesitation, she still sat next to Margot; not really eager to disappoint. Her eyes focused on the teen's fingers immediately.

She wouldn't be able to play anything anymore, anyway. It had been too long. If she even dared to try, it would be a complete disaster. A real shame. She couldn't do that.

"Which one is your favorite?" Margot motioned with her head the music sheets and smiled brightly.

"Ravel..." Jane's admission rose in the air through a barely assumed whisper. She placed her hands under her thighs as if to hide them even better.

"Oh, you are a bolero lady? I should have guessed!" Margot burst out laughing and stopped playing. She went through the sheet and placed a new one on the small piano stand. "C'mon. For Maura."

Jane stared at the music sheet and swallowed hard. She couldn't do this, could she? Of course, she hadn't forgotten how to read music. It was one of these notions one could never forget. But all the rest – her emotional background mainly – played a role she had a hard time ignoring.

She approached a shaking hand at the same time as Margot. A piano four-hands. It was challenging but comforting. Perhaps that was all what she needed: a support to overcome a thousand things.

"You can do it, Jane." Margot winked. "Relax and live."


	24. The Past Is Far Behind

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and private messages.**_

**Chapter twenty-three: The Past Is Far Behind**

"Ah no!" Hands on the steering-wheel, Jane rolled her eyes at Maura and wrinkled her nose. "Jeez... It happens every time. Every time we hit the road. You know I hate the smell of nail varnish in the car so that won't happen, not today. No – no – and no." She motioned the street in front of her. "We haven't even left Boston yet... There's no way my car smells of nail varnish until Salem."

"_My_ car." Maura raised an eyebrow but didn't insist. She put the small bottle of nail varnish back in her bag and turned her head around to speak to Margot. "I am afraid that we won't be able to have a decent manicure before reaching our destination. I am sorry."

Margot shrugged and grabbed a notebook instead.

"It's okay. I'm going to work on this final project instead." Pencil in hand, she focused on the sheet of paper and started writing with an obvious frenzy.

Maura settled back on her seat. Margot had been talking about this project for a while but she had refused to let them know what it was about.

It would be presented during the farewell party at school, along with the other French students' own projects. Maura did not like secrets much but she didn't have the choice and had to wait for six days to find out about the project.

"Take advantage of the ride to catch back on your sleep, Maura. You've been working all night." In the most natural way, Jane squeezed her partner's thigh sweetly before smiling at her.

She was right. The medical examiner had been on call all night long and had had to leave home at 2am for a car crash scene. She had come back to Beacon Hill thirty minutes before they left for the weekend. Just as planned.

"But then you will be alone and I don't like that. I am your copilot. It is my role to talk to you and help you with the roads or anything you need."

Jane held back a chuckle.

If she had won the first part of the game and was now the official driver, she still had chances to spend the next hour listening to Wikipedia Maura who had this tendency – every time they left on a roadtrip – to share her knowledge about Massachusetts with the rest of the class. And truth to be told, Jane wasn't in the mood for that right now.

"C'mon, it's only a forty-five minutes drive. I'll survive. You slept for two hours last night. I don't want you to be grumpy all day long because you'd be sleep deprived."

"I am not grumpy when I am sleep deprived! This isn't true." Maura pouted – offended – but finally settled on her seat and closed her eyes. "Wake me up when we are there."

Jane smiled. Second victory of the morning.

"And no Led Zepellin."

Smile: gone. She cast a resentful glance at Maura and shook her head. The next forty-five minutes would be the longest ones of her life.

...

"Why did you stop playing piano?"

All of a sudden, Jane lost focus and the harbor turned blurry; all the boats she had been observing in silence for the last ten minutes disappeared in a fog of some sort.

She hadn't expected such question, not now. Their day in Salem had been perfect and they were now about to have dinner on the waterfront. Lobster, probably. Like all the tourists around.

"It's... I don't know if I should let you know about it. It's not... It's delicate." Jane cast a quick glance on her right but Maura was nowhere to be seen. She was still in the bathroom of the restaurant.

"I ask you because you play well. I enjoyed playing with you the other day and I know you enjoyed it too. So why did you stop if you like it? It doesn't make sense." Margot took a sip of water and let a comforting smile play on her lips. "I'm sixteen, you know. Not ten. You can tell me everything."

Jane nodded. She wasn't as sure as the adolescent but the request was fair enough. All she had to do was to find the right words – the proper description – without giving away details nobody really needed in the end.

"I stopped when I got these." She waved her hands and pointed out her scars. "It happened at work. I mean... On a scene. I..." She ran a hand through her hair and frowned. "I screwed it and someone did this to me. He wanted more from me, though. A lot more."

"He wanted to kill you?"

The question went straight to her heart and abruptly squeezed it until it hurt. She nodded, looking at the table to avoid Margot's eyes on her. She still felt guilty. In spite of what Korsak said, what had happened with Hoyt was her fault. She knew it.

"Yes." She swallowed hard. What was the point of lying? Margot had guessed, anyway. "But what... What he liked was to take his time. He enjoyed it a lot. I don't know how long it really lasted but all I remember is how - during all this time - he didn't stop talking to me about my piano; how he loved listening to me when I played."

Jane's voice broke. She was going too far. Margot didn't need to know all this.

Her question hadn't remained unanswered and it was all what mattered in the end. End of the conversation.

"I'm glad he failed."

After a long moment of hesitation, Jane finally looked up at Margot. The girl had never seemed so serious and determined. In a sweet way that made Jane smile.

"Me too."

"There is a lobster singing in the bathroom. A plastic one, of course. Real lobsters don't sing. Yet if studies were run, perhaps we would come to a different conclusion as they do interact with each..." Maura stopped as she felt Jane's hand on hers. She turned her head and looked at her partner. "Are you alright?" She seemed worried.

Jane nodded and forced a smile. She was probably a bit pale but now that Maura was back next to her, life could start again and bad memories be forgotten. Somehow.

"A singing lobster, you say? I'm surprised it's not a witch. This place is turning in a real Disneyland. It was very different when I was a kid. It's losing its authenticity."

"But the museum was great and Salem is a nice town!" Margot closed her menu and crossed her hands on the table. "Thank you very much for taking the time to bring me here."

Jane and Maura shook their head in a perfect synchronization and laughed at it.

"It's normal. Actually, I wish we'd have had enough time to take you to other places too. It kind of sucks we had to stick to only a few of them. Massachusetts has a great History."

Caressing absentmindedly her lover's nape – playing with the dark curls there - Maura nodded at Jane's remark and took a sip of her white wine. She was tired but happy. She felt complete. It was the very first time that she and Jane left on a roadtrip as a couple and she loved every single second of it.

Her life suddenly made so much sense that she was almost afraid it wouldn't last.

_The wind always ends up turning, Isles. You should know that by now. Haven't you learned from the past? I thought you had._

She didn't want to listen to this inner voice and fought against it as much as she could. It wasn't always easy but her efforts were rewarded. She had to learn to live in the time being instead of focusing way too much on the future and complaining about the past.

She was with Jane. They were happy together. End of the story.

"You took many pictures, today. May I check them?"

Margot wrinkled her nose and shook her head at the scientist. She seemed embarrassed to turn the request down but didn't have much of a choice.

"I'm going to use some for my final project so I can't show them to you now. Sorry..."

"Ha!" Jane blushed as she realized that she had spoken a bit too loudly. She smiled at the few faces who had turned around to stare at her and cleared her voice. "This project is turning in the Area 51 of school. Seriously, what are you working on? I'm freaking curious and I know Maura is too."

Maura went to protest but finally nodded. It was true. Her curiosity was piqued and she had a hard time accepting the fact that she would have to wait for a whole week.

"The area what?"

A smile of delight grew on Jane's lips. She sat up on her seat and raised an eyebrow at the teenager. Now here came her chance to avoid a history lecture about Salem from Maura. She had had enough so-called fun facts for the day and needed to talk about something else, now.

"You've never heard of the Area 51?"

Margot frowned – seemed to really ponder the question – then shook her head.

"No... What is it?"

As Jane clapped her hands in delight, Maura stopped caressing her nape and preferred to focus on her wine instead. They had already talked about the Area 51 and completely disagreed on the matter. If she wanted to take the most of the romantic bedroom they had at the hotel after dinner, it was clear that she needed to remain quiet now.

"You don't look enthusiastic, Maura." Margot giggled. She hadn't missed the scientist's sudden change of mood.

Jane swept the remark away with a gesture of the hand and winked at Margot.

"Don't pay attention to her. She just loooooves doing her Scully at times."


	25. From Salem to Finnish

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews.**_

**Chapter twenty-four: From Salem to Finnish**

Her fingers slid under the silk of the bathrobe with a quiet audacity and brushed the breasts – bare – before following a path down to the waist. The touch elicited a moan from Maura, one that died in Jane's mouth; swallowed by a deep and sensual kiss. The piece of clothing fell down the scientist's shoulders, caressing her skin all along. She lay down – naked – and passed an arm behind her head waiting patiently for her lover to join her.

Still sitting up on the mattress, Jane caught back her breath and took her shirt off. They hadn't even bothered to turn the lights on. As soon as they had come back to the hotel, Maura had walked to the bathroom to take a shower while she had remained herself on the balcony to observe Salem by night.

What had followed had been the logical consequence of an entire day of stolen kisses and discreet – yet not so innocent – gestures of affection. A hand sliding on a lower back, fingers brushing a thigh.

She unhooked her bra – unzipped her jeans – and quietly got rid of the rest of her underwear. Her eyes went up Maura's ankles, the knees. As Jane's gaze reached her thighs, Maura slightly spread her right leg.

Suggestively.

Jane didn't miss the implicit invitation but took her time and resumed the study of her lover's body instead.

The lower stomach, the breasts. Her neck. Once she focused on the jaw, she finally lay down on top of Maura and captured her lips in a deep kiss.

She settled between her partner's legs with fluidity. Her body molded Maura's; their breath dying in sighs of anticipation, satisfied as soon as they both started moving their hips to the slow pace of a barely contained desire.

Jane closed her eyes.

She felt fine in Maura's arms. In peace.

...

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"

The question made Maura smile. Margot was right. The sky was blue – the sun was warm – and she felt serene on the beach surrounded by a dozen of families. Spending the weekend in Salem seemed to be exactly what she needed after the lastest events that had made her life tip over. The distance with Boston gave her perspective.

"Yes, it is. A perfect Sunday by the coast."

She had put her feet in the waters as soon as they had made it to the beach but it was still too early in the season to go for a swim. The Atlantic was cold if not just icy.

Her jeans rolled up mid-calf – her hair tied in a loose ponytail, rebel locks floating in the wind – Maura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The sea air went to her head bewitchingly, echoing the seagulls in the sky.

"Jane is taking forever. Is she buying the whole coffee shop? What is she doing? I'm starving!" Margot's laugh rose in the air with a delightful lightness.

Jane had left them twenty minutes earlier to buy a take away breakfast. She would join them on the beach to share it before settling on a plan for the day. Their last hours far from Boston. Maura made a face and tried to ignore such fact. She didn't want to go back home. Not already.

"The only thing I know for sure is that once she leaves the coffee shop, they will be running out of caffeine. She is a bit sleep deprived and woke up all grumpy."

"How come? You didn't sleep well? The hotel was very quiet."

Margot's innocent comment made Maura blush. She looked down and nervously traced a path in the sand with her index finger. She shouldn't have said that.

"Ahem... It was, indeed. It was very quiet. This is not the reason why she didn't get much sleep...?"

The teenager tilted her head – frowned – and suddenly gasped. She put a hand in front of her mouth and started giggling nervously.

"Oops. Sorry. I can be dumb, at times." She shook her head and looked at the ocean straight in front of her. "Just because I am now leading the life of a nun doesn't mean the others are too. I should know that!"

"The life of a nun?" The remark had piqued Maura's curiosity.

Now it was Margot's time to blush and look embarrassed. The adolescent shrugged and let the sand slip through her fingers. A whole fist of it. She waited for her hand to be empty to speak again.

"I am on a break right now... I ahem... I am slowing down."

Maura remained quiet. She wasn't certain of what Margot was talking about. She had an idea but all in all, it didn't fit what she had assumed about the student. Margot seemed to be a quiet girl, and reasonable. Even wise for her age.

She didn't look much of a rebel.

"I went through a bad patch two years ago." As if she had been reading Maura's mind, Margot gave in. "I did many things by then. I'm not very proud of some of them but what can I say? It happened. Now I'm over that. I've come to the right conclusion and I've turned the page. This trip to the USA is my parents' way to show they trust me in spite of what I did. I won't disappoint them. I..." She shook her head as if to sweep away her past. "All of this is over."

Long seconds passed by. Long seconds of silence during which Maura tried to face the information she had just been given. None of this appeared in Margot's file.

_And so what, Isles? At least this way, you haven't judged her. Nobody should judge one for a past that appears to be a bit troubled. Nobody should do that._

"I wish I had been a bit of a rebel at some point when I was a teenager. Instead, I remained quiet and kept it all inside. The tension built up but it never imploded. It just hurt."

"And now?" Margot wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips.

Maura spotted Jane by the pier. Paper brown bags in hand. Something warm embraced her stomach and sent a shiver down her spine. She closed her eyes again and let memories of the previous night rush back to her mind. She smiled.

"Now I am doing just fine."

Although it was more than that. She spent the day in Jane's arms laughing and smiling all the time. She talked to Margot – enjoyed an endless walk on the beach – and took plenty of photos. Her life had never been so sweet, so perfect. It smelled of sun and whispered promises.

But before she had a chance to realize what was happening, she was back in her car on their way to Boston; the heart full of unforgettable memories.

"We didn't listen to Led Zeppelin on our way here so I don't see why we would listen to Yo-Yo Ma on our way back to the city." Jane crossed her arms against her chest and pouted.

Maura raised her hands in abdication.

"Fine. Then what kind of music do you want?" She started the engine and drove off the gas station.

They had barely left Salem that they were already bickering. Nothing serious – as a matter of fact, she enjoyed these moments a lot – but the peaceful day on the beach was obviously long gone now.

"I don't know..." Jane turned her head around and looked at Margot. "Give me your MP3, Frenchie. We're gonna listen to your stuff." Margot obliged and Jane plugged the device. "I hope you're not a Justin Bieber fan."

Maura smiled but focused back on the road. She was the driver as Jane wanted to take a nap. The conversation she had had with Margot on the beach before Jane to show up with breakfast hadn't left her. The teen's words had been haunting her mind.

She wasn't curious about it but didn't really know what to do of such information and wasn't sure why Margot had told her that in the first place. The girl seemed fine, though; not bothered by it.

_And perhaps it is all what really matters in the end, Isles. Margot trusts you. She simply felt like sharing one of her deepest secrets. You should feel honored that she did._

A strange melody filled the car as the first notes of a song rose up. Jane frowned – perplexed – and squinted her eyes.

"That's not French... What's this language?"

It sounded folkloric; something she had never heard before. Margot slightly bent over and smiled enthusiastically at Jane.

"It's Finnish!"

Maura held back a laugh and tightened her grip on the steering-wheel. Too bad she was driving, a picture of Jane's current face would have been phenomenal. Her reaction was priceless.

"I must admit that my Finnish is a bit rusty... But the song has a nice... Swinging beat!" All smile, she turned to Jane and winked. "Regretting your decision over Yo-Yo Ma, _honey_?"

Jane didn't reply. She didn't need to. The glance she shot at Maura spoke for her. She swallowed hard and bit her lips. For once, she wouldn't fall in the provocation trap. She focused on the adolescent instead.

"What... What's the song about, Margot?"

"Levan's Polka! It tells the story of a girl named Eva. A boy takes her to a house where they dance polka in spite of Eva's mother being against the idea... When he brings Eva back home, her mother is angry but the guy tells her to keep quiet because no matter what she tries to do, they'll always be together."

Jane nodded. She wasn't convinced but didn't have much to add. Unlike Maura. The scientist cast a glance at Margot in the rearview mirror.

"I didn't know that you spoke Finnish!"

"Oh, I don't. I just like the melody of the song. It's catchy, isn't it?"

Jane remained quiet before Margot's smile. She turned on a side – her head leaned against the door – and closed her eyes. The road to Boston would be long and painful.

_Watch out, Rizzoli. You're surrounded by nerds. Maura has contaminated the kid. You're screwed._


	26. Once She Leaves

_**Author's note: thank you very much everyone for all the reviews and messages, it's a pleasure.**_

**Chapter twenty-five: Once She Leaves**

"The Red Sox called, Jane. They want their gear back." Frankie winked at her sister. "And now."

"Very funny, really. It's for Margot, I wanted her to leave with some Boston goodies." Jane grabbed a jersey and folded it on top of her desk. Perhaps the shopping session had gone a bit wild. She had a hard time seeing her desk under the amount of items dropped on it. "C'mon, she's leaving soon and I hadn't got her anything yet."

Five days. Margot left in five days. It was going way too fast, suddenly. Jane didn't like it. She had got used to the teenager's presence in her life.

She had got used to pretend she was Maura's wife.

A phone rang in the background and startled her. Back to reality. She proceeded to put her purchase – more than a dozen of items – back into a huge bag. Why did she have to leave? Why couldn't Margot stay here?

"You're gonna miss her, right?"

Frankie's question made her smile. She nodded but remained silent. She didn't feel like speaking. It was too hard and her voice would probably break if she dared to try.

"Think about the rest. Ain't you happy to get back to your normal life? No fake marriage anymore and all?"

During the two months she had spent at Maura's, Jane had stopped by her own place once. Just once and she had barely stayed for ten minutes. The apartment had seemed cold, impersonal. Her life was not there anymore. She didn't want to go back to it. It wasn't _her_.

But then what? Move in with Maura? They hadn't talked about it. Perhaps it was time for them to do so, though. They were running out of time.

"Not... Not that much, actually." She put the bag on the floor and looked up at her brother who was clearly taken aback by her remark. "I don't think it was my 'normal' life. I don't think it was me."

"What do you mean?" Frankie frowned. He seemed perplexed.

She cast a brief glance at the open space and sighed. The BPD was extremely quiet. Many units had left and they could hear the soft murmur of the machines; stifled steps in the hallway. A light talk by the coffee machine. Even time seemed to have stopped.

"What I'm having now... This is what I want. This is _my_ life. The way I see it."

Frankie remained still for a while; his eyes squinted at her impassively. She didn't move either and waited instead for her brother to react. She knew that he would at some point. He always did. He just needed to analyze what she had just let him understand; something they hadn't talked about until now.

"Then marry her. For real, this time. Propose her."

Jane's bitter laugh put an odd end to their conversation. She shook her head at Frankie as if he could not understand and waved him off. She needed to go back to work. Reports to type, files to revise. It wasn't the end of the day yet.

She couldn't focus on Maura now.

...

"Jane!"

_And... Busted. Well done, Rizzoli._

As Maura's scream resounded loud - full of reproach - Jane made a face.

She knew that it was only a matter of time. Actually, she had assumed that Maura would have noticed the multicolored scotched ribbons on Bass' shell earlier. It had taken her almost thirty minutes. A record of some sort.

Jane nonchalantly stepped into the living-room and got ready for her demise. Why did she do that? Why did she push Maura's buttons all the time? She was such a kid, at times.

"Did you call me? I was in the laundry room."

Maura shot her a mock disapproving look and shook her head slowly. Hands on her hips. She wasn't angry but furious. Really furious.

"The colors of the rainbow? Really?"

_Don't laugh now, Rizzoli. It'll make things worse. A sorry face. Make a sorry face. C'mon, you can do that. It can save you._

"You don't like them?"

Replying to Maura's rhetorical question by a stupid question wasn't the smartest move Jane could make but she was in a teasing mood and couldn't help it. She knew Maura's limits, anyway. She hasn't reached them yet.

"Can't you leave this poor Bass alone? Why did you do that to him?"

Fair question, very bad excuse. Jane had come back home earlier than planned and had got bored. The tortoise had had the unfortunate idea to cross her path while she was wrapping Margot's gifts. End of the story. It was as simple as that.

She shrugged and buried her hands in the pockets of her jeans.

"It wouldn't stay fixed on Jo Friday's fur."

The unexpected remark got the advantage of keeping Maura speechless.

Saved by the bell. Or better said, by the door.

Margot walked in and unleashed the dog who happily trotted to her owner. Jane grabbed her in her arms and waved a paw at Maura. The scientist pursed her lips – rolled her eyes – but finally smiled. Her incapacity to remain angry more than three seconds made it all almost too easy for Jane.

"Okay! I'm back so I can now bake this crumble. Apple, we said?" Full of energy, the teenager ran to the kitchen and washed her hands. "It's a classic one but hey, classics never die."

She had offered to prepare dinner and since she was an excellent cook, Jane and Maura had agreed right away. It was probably the last one that Margot would make before her departure. A bittersweet one.

"Are you done with your Area 51 project? Remember, there's no alien in Massachusetts. We're not in Roswell, here... No UFOs." Jane put Jo Friday back on the floor and sat on a stool. She felt like talking with Margot. As a matter of fact, she felt like spending every single second with her. "We'll get to see it soon, now. On Friday!"

Busy peeling apples, the adolescent raised an amused eyebrow and smirked. She had been working on it a lot but hadn't given them a single hint about it. The mystery remained, completely.

"If I am not wrong, all your projects will be presented during some sort of an exhibition. Right? This is what the mail we got said."

Maura sat next to Jane and focused on Margot. She passed a hand on her nape, made a face. It was sore. She had had a very busy day and had spent most of it up on her feet; bent over corpses.

Jane reacted immediately and began to rub her nape gently, planting light kisses on her shoulders from time to time. Why did it have to be so natural, so easy? Maura bit her lower lip and blushed.

They didn't really hide anymore but remained discreet as people of their age would. They didn't want to scream it out loud but simply be themselves. Anywhere. She had no idea who knew for them and who didn't. She hadn't heard any kind of rumor at work. Not yet. But the slight change of direction in their relationship worked out well, so far.

It worked out very well.

"Yes. It's like an exhibition but nothing like a science fair. It's... More like artistic?" Margot smiled at them and started looking for the small bottle of cinnamon. "It's nothing big. I don't know why this gets you so obsessed. You'll surely be disappointed!"

"You will never disappoint us."

Jane was right and Maura nodded at the comment to show support. She began to play with the hem of her partner's shirt; innocently, subconsciously. It was just another evening at home. A quiet one she had been waiting for since the first hours of the morning.

"We are curious because you categorically refuse to tell us anything about it. But well..." Maura raised her hands and apologized. "We won't annoy you with it anymore. I promise it." She yawned then rested her head on Jane's shoulder. "So it is a movie night, tonight? What are we going to watch?"

Her hands now plunged in the flour, Margot nodded enthusiastically. She was such an easy-going teenager that Maura couldn't help thinking about the confession Margot had made in Salem. She hadn't given more details about it but as troubled as her past might have been, it was hard to think and believe that she had been such a rebellious teen. Yet it was what she had let Maura understand. If she had been troubled once, she seemed to have found back her balance.

"_Vertigo_..."

"Thank God!" Jane's scream of relief made Margot and Maura jump in surprise. She found herself observed by two pairs of confused eyes. She obviously owed them an explanation now. "No offense but after your MP3 adventures on our way back from Salem, I thought you'd choose some random Finnish film or something."

Margot laughed lightly.

"Noooo... I let your wife teach you about European cinema. Maura has an excellent taste. I'm sure she always takes her time to introduce you to it." Margot looked at the medical examiner. "Right?"

Maura nodded slowly – pondering the remark in her head – and smirked. One of these smirks Jane knew way too well. The scientist had something in mind. Something devilish.

"Every time she torments this poor Bass." Maura turned around and smiled at Jane. "By the way you took his shell for a wrapping paper today, I can tell you that we are about to start an introduction to Austrian cinema, Jane."

Jane swallowed hard and forced a smile.

"Lucky me." She paused and raised her eyebrows at Margot. "This marriage is a blast."


	27. Yes Or Not

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages.**_

**Chapter twenty-six: Yes Or Not**

"May I ask you something? The two of you?"

Jane and Maura exchanged a knowing look and nodded at Margot. The adolescent usually didn't ask for permission. After two months spent in Boston, she simply went ahead and asked. Her sudden hesitation was taking them aback.

"Fine." Margot put her pen down on the kitchen counter and looked at her hosts. "How... How did your proposal go? Who proposed whom? When, where?"

Jane and Maura remained silent for a while. They hadn't expected such question. Not now, only four days before the end of Margot's American stay. The absence of reply and her hosts' embarrassment made the French girl laugh.

"What? Is there a problem with it? Was it... Was it bad or something?"

Jane snorted. She knew that it was ridiculous but her ego prevented her from remaining quiet over it. There was no way Jane Rizzoli would have faced a failed proposal; even for a make-up story. It had to be beautiful and successful. Period.

"Jeez... Of course no! It was perfect." She barely cast a glance at Maura before feverishly sharing the scenario she had just come up with in her head. "Fenway Park. It was packed. The sun was..."

"You are lying, Jane."

Maura's comment took her completely aback. Of course she was lying but Margot wasn't supposed to know about that. What was going on? Jane turned around and stared at her partner in disbelief.

"She wishes it happened at Fenway Park. She wishes everything happened at Fenway but reality is different at times." A timid smile played on Maura's lips as she approached Jane.

She grabbed her hand and took the ring off. Jane swallowed hard. What was Maura doing? Had she reached her limits and didn't want to pretend that they were married anymore? Was she about to let Margot know that it was all a lie?

They only had a few days left before it being over. It was nothing compared to the two months they had been through. She could do it. _They_ could do it.

Maura shook her head and sweetly looked at Margot.

"Fantasies don't always come true but that doesn't mean reality can't be beautiful either."

Jane widened her eyes in panic. She didn't like the way things were turning. Two minutes before, she was enjoying a night talk in the kitchen after a full day at work. What had happened? Why so suddenly? She looked down at her bare hand and bit her lips. She felt naked without the ring.

"What do you mean? It didn't take place at Fenway?" Margot looked as lost as Jane but a lot less panicked. She grabbed her glass of water and took a sip, eager to know what Maura had to say.

The medical examiner shook her head and let the ring slide under her fingers. Her hesitation didn't last very long as if what she was about to do was purely logical, fair. And it was. She knew it was.

"No." She made a step towards Jane and swallowed hard.

_Trust yourself, Isles. Listen to your heart. _

Maura laughed timidly and locked her eyes with her partner's dark ones. She was shaking but didn't focus on it. If she did then she knew that it would be over and – perhaps – she wouldn't dare to ask ever again. She had to do it now.

"It happens in the kitchen, just here... After a day at work." Her voice rose in an emotional murmur. "I stand here in front of Jane and am unable to tell her all the things going on in my head. I am not good at expressing my feelings but luckily, you know they are there." Not breaking eye-contact with Jane, Maura touched her heart, tilted her head slowly. "There are a thousand words I could use... But I can't find the one that would reflect with accuracy how I feel and you know how I hate when one lacks precision. I don't have a speech written in advance. I have nothing... Nothing but this ring and my eternal love for you. We have been through a lot together but the best still has to come..."

Jane froze. She doubted that Margot had noticed the subtlety of the tense Maura was using but she herself hadn't missed it. She wasn't talking in the past – unable to lie – but in the present being. As if she were about to do it.

As if Maura were proposing her. Now.

Actually, there was no _if_. By the honesty of Maura's voice, Jane understood immediately what was happening. She was proposing her now, in the middle of the kitchen; in front of Margot who really had no idea what was going on.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, in your arms. Nothing really makes sense when you aren't around. I am lost without you. Do you... Do you remember the day you asked me how far I would go for you?" Maura waited for Jane to nod. "Well, I would die for you. And if you happened to die today... I would die tomorrow. Because I love you and... I can't go on without you." With an emotion barely contained, she grabbed Jane's hand to slide back the ring on her finger before locking her eyes with hers. "I want to marry you. I really do."

Time seemed to get suspended and Jane remained still, unable to move. She kept on blinking but couldn't say a word at all. She was shocked, in the most beautiful way one could ever imagine.

"Oh my God... I don't know what the cutest is: the fact you remember it all or that you are still so emotional when talking about it."

Margot's comment made Jane jump and she finally turned her head around to look at the teenager. Margot was clapping her hands; tears in her eyes. Her grin lit up her graceful features as her eyes went back and forth from her to Maura.

She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Gosh, Maura. That was so beautiful. I wish I had been there when you really proposed Jane. It must have been sooo romantic!" She shook her head. "You two are almost too cute to be true."

...

Maura turned the lights off and the room plunged in the dark. Laid on her back, Jane stared at the ceiling quietly. If they had moved on – carried by Margot's energy – she hadn't stopped thinking about the kitchen scene; all evening long. She hadn't dreamed. She knew what Maura had done. It was not just a fantasy in her head. No.

Maura had proposed her; subtly, implicitly.

Wasn't it too early? They had barely been dating for a month. But then could she say their relation had ever followed a classic scheme? Even as friends, they weren't like the others. They had always been different. Always.

The two months spent under the same roof had really gone smoothly. Jane's slight anxiety before the idea of sharing someone's life 24h/day hadn't found a single echo here.

It worked out with Maura. It worked out so well that she didn't feel like going back to her own place. She couldn't ignore it.

But what if they were rushing into things? What if it cost them something that could mean so much more? Something that could define the rest of their life?

Perfectly still in bed, she let her eyes wander on the form lying next to her in the dark. Maura had not tried to get closer to her. She had not asked for cuddles when she usually did. Instead, she seemed to keep that reasonable distance that only highlighted the weight of the words she had had in the kitchen in the evening.

Something had to happen. Yes or no. But they couldn't remain quiet nor pretend that it was not relevant because it was and they knew it.

"Yes."

Jane's hoarse voice broke the silence of the night. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She thought about her brother, about her mother. About the first time she had met Maura. About all the rest; all the things she had lived since then.

And the kiss. The first one they had shared.

Maura turned her head and squinted her eyes in the dark. She rolled on a side to face her partner and caressed Jane's cheek with the back of her hand.

"Are you sure?"

The question made Jane laugh. It wasn't the kind of reaction she had thought Maura would have - it wasn't classic - but she didn't care if it didn't match all these movie scene proposals she had watched once.

Theirs was better, worth any Hollywood scenario. It was cute in its own way, and personal. It was theirs and nobody else's.

"Yes." She nodded. "Yes, I want to marry you."

Something shone in the dark. Jane squinted her eyes and realized it came from tears. Maura was crying; quietly. She bit her lips and surprised herself sobbing.

"Don't cry."

Maura threw herself in her arms and held her tightly. She laughed in the crook of her neck and planted a kiss there, by the jaw.

"I am sorry it didn't happen at Fenway."

Jane rolled her eyes – not caring much about the tears that were now running down her cheeks – and let a laugh pass her lips.

"And I apologize in advance if you don't get your Santorini fancy thing."

They had got used to the dark by now and could easily see other other. Maura's smile echoed Jane's own one.

She shrugged.

"I really couldn't care less about Greece right now." A veil of uncertainty darkened her features. "Do you think... Do you think..."

She didn't finish her sentence. She didn't have to. She loved Jane and Jane loved her in return. They had been knowing each other for so long that waiting a bit more didn't make much sense. They were ready. They wanted it.

So they would do it.


	28. The Future We Will Build Together

_**Author's note: thank you very much for your reviews and messages, I am glad you are enjoying this story.**_

**Chapter twenty-seven: The Future We Will Build Together**

"Rizzoli! Hey!" Martinez snapped his fingers to get Jane's attention. "Rizzoli! You're with us?" His laugh fell flat – sounded forced – but he didn't stop nonetheless. The situation was strange enough like that for him to not give up.

Leaned against the window by her desk, Jane finally turned her head around.

Daydreams. She had been daydreaming since the moment she had passed the door of the BPD earlier in the morning. A group had gathered in the room and was now staring at her. They were waiting for her opinion. On what? She swallowed hard. She had missed the whole conversation and had no idea what they had been talking about.

"I am getting married." A shy smile made her lips curl up.

She had no idea why she had said that. It was neither the right time nor the most appropriate place for such announcement. Her colleagues' reaction made it clear enough, besides.

They were staring at her as if she had lost her mind. Although curiously, none of them really seemed surprised by the news. It simply didn't fit in there.

"To whom?"

The rookie's question got welcomed by a snort coming from an officer on her right. She frowned at the guys – uncertain of the way she was supposed to take such reaction – and cleared her voice.

"To Maura. I'm getting married to Maura." Silence. No reaction. "Dr. Isles...?"

They hadn't talked about it to anyone yet. It had just happened, anyway. Maura had proposed to her the evening before and she had accepted in the middle of the night. They were still under the shock of their decision. It hadn't been twenty-four hours yet.

She would have never thought that the first people she would break the news to would turn out to be her colleagues. She wasn't even close to all of them. But it had come up by itself, all of a sudden.

"About time. Congrats, Riz'. She's a smart one."

Before she had a chance to realize what was happening, Jane found herself going from one pair of arms to another. All the guys were congratulating her, laughing and joking at the same time. It was touching. She loved it when brotherhood reigned over the BPD. Unexpected but touching.

"Hey! Here's the bride! I mean... The second one."

As a dozen of faces turned towards her, Maura stopped walking and tightened her grip on the file she was holding. She forced a smile and tried to ignore how her cheeks were burning.

She was blushing. Heavily. She knew it.

"Congratulations, Dr. Isles. You deserved better, Rizzoli is a stubborn one. Welcome into the family!" Mahoney smiled at Maura before looking back at Jane. "You'll surely get us favors from the lab if we need any, now! It's good to have some contacts."

"Don't start, Mahoney." Jane shook her head and squinted her eyes at her colleague. "Dont start."

...

Maura grabbed the tea spoon and began to play nervously with it. She read one more time the web page on her tablet and sighed. She was determined herself but unsure for Jane.

"Are you sure that you are fine with it?"

Sitting on the other side of the table, Jane nodded at her. She didn't look as self-confident as Maura but it was only because she always feared the unknown and that was exactly what they were about to throw themselves into.

Together, though. And that made the difference.

"I should be the one asking you that!" She laughed lightly and bent over the table to check the page Maura kept on reading over and over. "You have a zillion wedding fantasies. I don't... I'm fine with this."

"My wedding fantasies only belong to a game, Jane. I don't want them to come true. I don't want to be... Some sort of a princess. I just want to marry you."

Their conversation seemed completely surreal. As much as Maura had proposed to Jane, she had a hard time believing that it was now coming true. So quickly.

She didn't even know the day before – while coming back home – that she would ask Jane to become her wife. But now she was on a roll and eager to get to it as soon as possible.

"Your mother is going to hate us, isn't she?"

Sadly, the question was fair and almost rhetorical. Jane squinted her eyes – pursed her lips – and ran a hand through her hair. She didn't want to lie to Maura, not now. Not about their wedding. But then she didn't want to disappoint her either.

_It's a dead-end way, Rizzoli. You're stuck in a freaking dead-end way. And she knows it. Maura knows it._

"She'll get over it." She made a face. There was nothing less sure at all. Her mother was obsessed with the idea of getting her to marry someone. "She doesn't need a ceremony. She just wanna take pics and send them to the whole neighborhood to show everyone how good I'm doing."

"Oh. I see."

"You're a doctor, Maura. That's gonna be her main weapon for the next ten years or so, I tell you. I know her. A doctor in the family... It's the cherry on the cake. A very fine cherry..." Jane nodded enthusiastically. Her argument was a fair one. It had taken her a while to find a good one but she had finally got it.

"But I am a medical examiner. I work on dead people. Isn't it a bit different?"

"And so what? You still went to med school. That's the important point of the story. The rest is just details. Who cares if you work on dead body? You're the freaking chief medical examiner of the state. That's big!"

Maura nodded and started biting her nails. She hadn't done that since boarding school.

"Hmm... Details."

"You don't seem... Convinced. Listen..." Jane grabbed her partner's hands and locked her eyes with the scientist's hazel ones. "If you don't feel it now and prefer to wait then I'll respect your choice. I am not gonna change my mind any time soon. I want to marry you. But I want you to feel at ease... There's nothing worse than a bride breaking into hives and passing out because she'd be too stressed out."

"I am not going to pass out..." The smile that played on her lips highlighted the fact she had got that Jane was only kidding. "I want it so let's do it." She grabbed her tablet and opened a new window.

"Good. I can make it for 5.30pm. Do you want me to change?"

Maura shook her head at the question but remained focused on the electronic device as she began to fill the application online.

"No. I want you to be you, Jane. The courthouse doesn't impose any dress code. Wear whatever you want to wear."

As much as Maura was sincere, Jane knew that – deep inside – she wanted to look pretty. She didn't want to marry her in her work clothes. It was too casual, not appropriate. Just because they wouldn't have a ceremony did not mean that she couldn't dress up for the occasion. She nodded at her partner – kissed her goodbye – and left the coffee store to go back to work.

"See you there!"

Of course, they could have waited but what for? They wanted to get married. They had the rings – they lived together – and they were more than ready for it.

She spent the next two hours wondering what her mother's reaction would be. She had tried to reassure Maura but the truth was that she knew for a fact that her mother would be upset by the absence of ceremony.

_That's fine. You'll organize something later, something with everybody. It's gonna be fine. She'll be happy for you. She already is. She let you know about it so don't freak out. _

At 4pm, Jane left the BPD and drove downtown. The fifth store turned out to be the right one. She found the dress she wanted to wear. Not really wedding-like but classy enough for such event. She bought a pair of stilettos – a makeup kit – and showed up at 5.30pm in front of the courthouse. Ready.

She was shaking – her heart was beating fast – and her hands were moist but there was this smile on her face that wouldn't go away; this smile that seemed to scream to the whole world that it was one of the most important days of her life.

They officially got married at 6.15pm. Not even twenty-four hours after Maura's proposal. For long seconds, they both looked at their signatures at the bottom of each page; unable to speak, wrapped in the exhilaration of their feelings.

_Here we are... You married Jane. She is your wife, now._

They went for a drink at a bar nearby. Maura ordered a glass of Pinot noir and Jane got a beer. They cheered, talked about anything and everything at the same time. At 7pm, they drove back home and spent the evening with Margot.

As if nothing had happened.

Life was just going on. They had got married but it sounded so natural that it simply looked like the logical continuation of what they had started. And that was what they wanted their future to be. Just that.

Nothing fancy, nothing extraordinary. Just the quietness and serenity of their mutual feelings; a couple of smiles, a thousand kisses.

And the promise that it wasn't just a dream.


	29. A Bostonian Story

_**Author's note: thank you all for the reviews!**_

**Chapter twenty-eight: A Bostonian Story**

After ten seconds of a very strange silence, Jane laughed and shook her head at her brother. Frankie had been staring at her as if she were about to change her human form.

"What's going on?"

His lips curled up in a smile. He shrugged - trying to not pay attention to the way he was now blushing rather intensely - and took a sip of his beer.

"I just realized you were sleeping with Maura."

Jane swallowed hard and began to panic. Frankie had sounded neutral, neither amused nor shocked. She wasn't sure how to interpret it. Why was he coming up with that? She had invited him over for lunch to let him know that she had got married and that was his reaction? Really?

"... And?" She moved on her seat and looked aside uncomfortably. She usually didn't talk about this with her brother. He had taken her aback. They were close but their respective sexual lives were a bit taboo.

"Well..." Frankie stretched his arms over the table. "I think you're lucky... I mean, she's good-looking. _Really_ good-looking. It's... It's Maura!"

Jane closed her eyes. Of course. She was talking to a man. Her brother had to come up with such a typical remark about Maura's figure. Focusing hard on the idea of not letting her instinct win over the rest, she politely smiled then nodded.

"Indeed, thank you for noticing it." She squinted her eyes at him, now on the defensice. "And she's now your sister-in-law so you know what that means, okay?"

Frankie raised his hands in a gesture of abdication and giggled.

"Relax. I wasn't planning on trying anything. Gosh, even before when you were not married, it was obvious the only one she wanted was you. And ... And vice-versa. It was vain to think someone else could stand a chance."

Jane dismissed the waitress who had just approached their table with a gesture of the hand. She did not know how to react to her brother's statement.

Everything had become clear in her head only a month earlier. Barely a month. Of course Maura had always counted in her life – a lot more than many people if not just everyone – but she honestly didn't think that she had been in love for the past five years.

She would have figured it out earlier, no?

_You're a detective, a good one. Of course, you'd have noticed it! Jeez, don't let your bro' fool you, Rizzoli. You're better than that._

"But hey, you can count on me. I won't say anything to ma'. The topic's kinda trendy though at work and the _Division One Cafe_ is in the building so if I were you, I wouldn't wait for too long."

Jane nodded. It was a fair advice.

"Yeah. I just... I just want to wait for the right time, the right moment." She paused. "Do you think she's gonna be mad?"

Her brother immediately nodded.

"Oh yes. She's gonna be mad like you have no idea..." Frankie burst out laughing as his sister buried her face in her hands. "But she won't kill you and you know why?" Jane shook her head and stifled a moan of despair. "Because she needs you alive. For the grandkids you're supposed to have with Maura."

"Maura doesn't need me to get pregnant, Frankie. Where were you during your science classes?"

The young man rolled his eyes. He seemed to enjoy the situation a bit too much for Jane's taste.

"I'm not saying biologically but you know, the whole family thing... She wants the marriage, the family, the kids. The big stuff! And you need to be alive to give her that."

This time, Jane didn't try to push away the waitress. She let the woman reach their table and asked for a coffee refill.

She pouted, pondering her brother's words. He'd better be right.

...

The school was crowded. Students had gathered by groups at every corner and were now chatting together while parents meticulously followed the arrows that led to the exhibition held by Margot and her classmates.

Maura knew that her reaction was disproportionate but she felt intimidated. She wasn't at ease.

The event made memories rush back to her mind; memories of a time she would have preferred to forget. Her boarding school years hadn't been the most glorious ones of her life and - for some reason - she suddenly had the odd feeling to be back there in Switzerland. At the mercy of the cruelty of other students.

"You're not going to pass out, are you?"

Jane's question made her smile. She knew that her wife was joking but the truth was that she wasn't feeling fine either. Literally clutched to Jane's hand, she let the Italian drag her through the crowd. The heat of her partner's body against her was reassuring, comforting. She needed Jane's presence by her side more than anything right now.

"I don't understand what is happening to me. I was just fine the last time we came here. You know, for the meeting? I need to drink something." She nodded at herself. "Wine, I need wine. Do you think they have any?"

Jane made a face. Since when did Maura look for alcohol to overcome a bad moment? Where had she learned to do such thing?

_For real, Rizzoli? You can't see who her model is? Ever heard of Constance Isles? Your goddamn mother-in-law, as a matter of fact. Cognac at 11am – wine for the meal – and a whiskey at 5pm._

Even if Constance indulged in a milkshake from time to time.

"Jane! Maura!"

A high-pitched voice made them stop and turn around. Katherine Arnolds – a woman in her forties who had welcomed another French teenager at her place – walked straight towards them. She looked thrilled if not just over-enthusiastic.

"I think she knows where the booze is..." Jane winced in pain as her partner kicked her in the side to make her turn quiet.

"Katherine... What a pleasure to see you again." As if nothing had happened, Maura politely shook the woman's hand and brightly smiled.

Her reaction took Jane aback.

Two seconds earlier, Maura had been terrified. How could she go and pretend so well that she was fine when she wasn't? How many times had she fooled Jane in the past regarding her deepest feelings? She was good at wearing a mask when required; too good at it. Jane frowned, suddenly worried. Katherine completely missed her reaction, though.

"I have just seen Margot's work. You are going to be so touched. This girl is an angel. Agnès is also very nice. We will miss her when she is gone. Will the two of you be at the airport tomorrow?"

Jane nodded but had a hard time to smile.

Within twenty-four hours, Margot would leave Boston and would go back to France. Within twenty-four hours, Jane would have the sentiment to have lost a member of her family. The mere thought made her feel like crying.

"Yes... Of course." The emotion rose in her shaking voice.

She tightened her grip on Maura's hand as if to find more courage to face what appeared now as irreversible. Katherine nodded and waved the room with her hand. She made a step backwards to excuse herself before going towards another group of parents.

"See you tomorrow, then. And enjoy tonight's exhibition."

Jane and Maura nodded politely and resumed their walking towards the auditorium.

_My Bostonian Story – two months in Massachusetts_

Maura thanked the teenager who held out the programme to them and stepped into the room, reading out loud what now clearly appeared as the theme of the night.

The auditorium was just as packed as the corridors. She immediately spotted Margot on her right. The girl was talking – enthusiastically, as usual – to a teacher.

"Area 51 is number 7. C'mon, Maura. I wanna see it first. I've been dying to know what Frenchie's stuff is about."

Maura didn't have time to react. Jane dragged her to the right stand – making their way through the crowd – only to stop right in her tracks as she faced Margot's very own Bostonian story.

"Why are you..." Maura's question never came out. As her hazel eyes stopped on Margot's stand, she succumbed to the same surprise as Jane.

A whole series of black and white photographies, probably fifty of them. Some shots the medical examiner knew, others she was discovering at the same time as her wife.

_My Bostonian Story: Jane and Maura_

Jane opened her mouth to speak but found herself speechless.

Margot had taken pictures of them for the past two months. On most of them, they weren't even aware of the fact that someone was taking a shot of them. The result was even better, embraced by a perfect spontaneity that brought grace and natural beauty to every single scenery.

They recognized Salem – Beacon Hill – the BPD. All these familiar places they barely saw in the end for them belonging to their daily routine. They were suddenly observing their own life from an external perspective. For the very first time.

It was bewitching.

Walking hand in hand – laughing – sharing a morning coffee in the kitchen. Every-day scenes that seemed to highlight even more the intensity of these little precious moments that made life so sweet.

And then the first pictures, some they had given Margot when the teenager had asked for them; old ones from the first days of their friendship to the week prior to the student's arrival. Maura squinted her eyes at them and swallowed hard as she focused on every single one of them. The looks they exchanged, the intensity of their respective gazes.

It was hitting her now. Only now. How could she have missed it? They had been in love all along but had never realized it.

"Do you like them?"

Margot's voice made them jump in surprise. They turned around to face the teenager. Margot was grinning; hands in her back. She winked at Jane.

"See? No UFO in Massachusetts... Only real things. True love is the real story."


	30. Au Revoir

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages; one more chapter after this one and the story will be over.**_

**Chapter twenty-nine: Au Revoir**

"I hope you forgot something."

Maura gasped and snapped her wife's forearm to make her turn quiet. She widened her hazel eyes – pretending to be mad – and pursed her lips.

"Jane!" Her offended tone fell flat, though. She was too emotional.

The scene made Margot giggle but her reaction pushed Jane to put her sunglasses on. It was raining and grey but there were some things she preferred to hide behind a pair of Rayban's; like the tears – burning ones – that were menacing to roll down her cheeks any time, now. She shrugged at Maura and barked.

"What? At least that'd mean she'd have to come back!"

It had gone way too fast. The exhibition at school the evening before – the farewell party for lunch – and now the drive to the airport. As a matter of fact, the last two months had gone too fast. They had taken them in a whirl of feelings - a whirl of unexpected events - that now weighed a lot on their respective lives.

"You call us when you make it there, okay?" Jane sounded like her mother but couldn't care less, all of a sudden. She was being sincere. The rest didn't matter. "We won't go to bed before you call and you know I mean it."

Margot nodded and adjusted her travel bag on her shoulder. Boarding pass in hand, she didn't seem very eager to leave either. The other teenagers of the program had now gathered by the escalators – waving a very last time at the families that had welcomed them into their lives – and were patiently waiting for the employee of Air France KLM to take them to their boarding lounge.

"You'll come to visit me to Bordeaux, right?" Margot's voice broke. She tried to smile but her lips refused to obey. She looked miserable. "I'll definitely come back as soon as I can... Maybe I'll even spend a whole year here once I graduate from high school and go to college."

Maura hugged her very tightly but didn't find the courage to add anything. The lump in her throat was painful and chances were that – if she opened her mouth to speak – she would burst into tears immediately.

The mere effort would be vain, she knew it.

An airport hostess approached the group and introduced herself. Margot cast a brief glance at her before planting a kiss on her two hosts' cheeks.

"I have to go, now. _Au revoir_..."

They didn't move. Rayban's and Chanel's on, Jane and Maura kept on staring at the elevator even long after the group of adolescents had walked away in the distance on the first floor. Something had just happened, something important they couldn't put words on. A page of their life had been turned. Somehow. With the terrifying sensation that it had been torn down and burnt. It hurt a lot.

If this was how letting your children go felt like then Jane was not sure she wanted to ever experience it. Margot wasn't her daughter but her sudden absence was just as tough to cope with.

"Would you like a coffee? We can't leave the airport until the plane has taken off, anyway."

Jane snorted.

"I wasn't planning to go back to Boston, now. I mean... Look at us." She took her sunglasses off and pointed out her red - puffy - eyes. "People'd think we caught some sort of myxomatosis at the airport!"

...

Four hours later, they parked in Beacon Hill and walked back to Maura's house hand in hand. They had had time to talk about a few things at Logan International, starting with their very own life.

On the day after, they would empty Jane's apartment and bring back the belongings she wanted to keep with her. The rest would go to donations. As for the apartment in itself, she would probably rent it.

They still had to make their marriage official as well. They had got married three days earlier and had preferred to focus on Margot until now, to enjoy the very last moments in her company. Now that she was gone, they had to announce it; if only to their relatives. And organize a party.

"You shouldn't wear heels. Ma' is going to try to kill us, you won't run fast enough with these shoes. Bad, bad idea."

Jane laughed – opened the door – and let Maura come in first. She took her coat off but stopped right in her tracks as she heard her mother's voice.

"Jane Clementine Rizzoli!" Angela paused, groaned. "Or... Should I say, Jane Clementine Rizzoli-Isles?!"

Jane and Maura exchanged a panicked look. What had happened? Angela soon appeared on their right walking out of the kitchen, a letter in hand. She waved it furiously at them.

"What have I done to you that I learned you got married on Thursday thanks to a dispatch rider?" Seeing that her daughter wasn't reacting, Angela held the letter in front of her face. "You got the official documents – the extra ones – from the courthouse. I thought the messenger had got it all wrong when he told me it was for Mrs. Rizzoli-Isles so I had to double-check it and... And..."

Jane instinctively made a step backwards, ready to run away from the city and never come back. Her reaction caused Maura to burst out laughing. The scientist raised a hand to apologize.

At least Angela had stopped yelling. She had been as surprised as Jane by Maura's laughter.

"I... We..." Maura bit her lips and joined her hands together. She tilted her head, smiled at Angela. A few seconds passed by before she finally spoke again. "Grandchildren...?"

"What?!" Jane's murmur made Maura shrug.

"Well, you said it yourself: I am wearing heels and cannot properly run away so I am trying to use diplomacy to save us from this."

"Will the two of you stop plotting?" Angela made a step towards them and shook her head. She did not look as angry as Jane and Maura had thought in the first place. "Why are you whispering? Am I supposed to know something else or..?"

"No, ma'. Nothing." Jane rolled her eyes and walked to the kitchen. She needed a glass of water. Or a beer. Yes. Alcohol was very much needed right now. "Although I'm actually moving here like... Forever..."

"Yes, on a permanent basis. We assumed that it was the best thing to do considering..."

Angela's snort made Maura turn quiet. The matriarch crossed her arms on her chest, reducing to nothing the document she was still holding.

"Of course, it's the best thing to do. Wait, no. It's not the _best thing to do_. No... It's the _normal_ thing to do when you're married!"

"Hey! Don't yell at my wife, ma'!" Bottle of beer in hand, Jane walked back to her mother and made a face. She was didn't want Maura to suffer from her mother's reaction. It wasn't fair.

"I am not yelling. I am..." Angela shrugged and lowered her voice. "I am Italian talking." She turned around to talk to Maura. "You know I love you and you two..." She pointed out Jane. "You do know you have my blessing... But why did you hide it from me? That's... That's not nice."

As her mother's voice broke, Jane felt a wave of guilt pass underneath her skin. She hadn't meant to inflict pain to anyone, certainly not to her mother.

"We didn't hide it from you nor from anyone. As I just told you, it was a spontaneous decision. You know... A very on-the-moment thing. And then Margot only had two days left here so she turned to be our priority. But I swear we were about to let you know about it." Jane nodded. "Today."

"We would like to celebrate it, Angela. As a matter of fact, I would appreciate it a lot if you were involved into the party. You..." Suddenly timid, Maura squinted her eyes and seemed to look for what seemed like the most appropriate words to use in such circumstances. "You are my second mother. I cannot imagine celebrating my union to your daughter without you helping us, without your suggestions and advices."

Jane made a face. Perhaps Maura was going a bit too far, right now. The last thing she wanted was her mother to organize it all from A to Z. Unless she suddenly felt like going through a nightmare.

"Well..." She forced a smile. "Any kind of suggestion is – indeed – always welcome and we will ponder it." Jane smiled. Now that was a better compromise.

Angela remained quiet. Impassive. After endless seconds of hesitation, she finally loosened her grip on the courthouse document and timidly smiled.

"Were you wearing a dress, Janie? You are so beautiful when you wear dresses. A shame you never seem to realize it." Her voice was now sweet. Her anger was gone. "You need to tell her that more often, Maura. She's... She's too blind to figure out some things that are so evident to people's eyes."

Maura nodded but immediately threw herself in Angela's arms. She needed the hug, she needed the contact. She held her tightly for a long while.

"What are the two of you doin'? A remake of _Women On The Verge Of a Nervous Breakdown_?" But as she came to face her mother and wife's incredulity, Jane smiled apologetically. She took a deep – long – breath and locked her eyes with her mother's. "Are you proud of me?"

The question came out of the blue. Jane herself didn't really understand why she had asked that in the first place. The words had passed her lips before she had had a chance to hold them back but perhaps it was better this way.

Let her feelings speak, freely.

"Of course, I am." Angela sounded confused. She approached a hand from her daughter's face and caressed her cheek sweetly. "I've always been proud of you. Now I'm just... A bit prouder. Maura's the perfect person for you. I'm happy for the two of you."


	31. Epilogue

**Chapter thirty: Epilogue**

_**Two years later**_

Jane cast a brief glance at the airport in the rearview mirror and sighed. Heavily, loudly. She didn't hide her feelings anymore. She had stopped doing so a very long while ago. What for, anyway?

It was obvious that she was sad, just like the other families who were saying goodbye to the students they had welcomed at their place for the last two months.

"You know, I had thought it'd be easier at some point... That we'd get used to it. I was wrong. It's still a fucking heartbreaking." She raised an apologetic hand. "I know, I know. _Language_..." She turned the radio on.

Maura didn't protest. Sitting on the passenger seat, she squeezed her wife's thigh in a gesture she hoped comforting enough and focused on the road. She wasn't doing any better than Jane for the moment.

Six students. They had welcomed six students thanks to the international exchange program and had kept in touch with every single one of them. Margot held a special place in their hearts, though. They owed her a lot.

They owed her everything, as a matter of fact.

They had visited her in Bordeaux before heading to Maura's parents' house in Dordogne for another couple of weeks a year earlier. Jane liked referring to their stay in France as their honeymoon. Nothing had really been defined by then.

They had celebrated their wedding in Boston – with friends and relatives – but had never followed any classic scheme either regarding their union. No honeymoon as per say, no official pictures. But it suited them, actually.

They were happy together, with the way of life they had chosen.

"Do you happen to think – at times – about what your life would be if I hadn't decided to take part in the program?"

Jane tightened her grip on the steering-wheel. She didn't like Maura's introspective questions when she was driving. She felt trapped in the car by then; trapped in a dead-end alley with no choice but to face her deepest feelings. It was a fair game, though. Just too tough for Jane's taste. She didn't want to think about anything. She put her brain on pause and simply remained concentrated on the road.

"I try not to because then it makes me sad."

Her curiosity piqued, Maura turned her head around and squinted her eyes at her wife. She looked at her – impassive – and waited for an explanation. Jane's statement had been slightly mysterious. She either had said too much or really not enough.

Jane rolled her eyes, not out of impatience but out of discomfort.

"It makes me sad because I'd have missed out pretty much all my life." She bit her thumb. She was really not at ease. "Satisfied?"

The kiss that Maura planted at the corner of her lips took her by surprise, just like the hand she slid up her inner thigh.

"You always satisfy me..." Maura's sultry voice rose in the car.

Jane blinked – swallowed hard – then shook her head in fake disbelief.

"You are such a perv, Maura."

...

As much as she had counted more times than she could remember, a scalpel was still missing from her kit and for whoever knew Maura, it was an extremely upsetting situation. She briefly looked all around and pouted.

Perfect timing, really. She was about to practice an autopsy in front of a group to fifteen students – as the chief medical examiner of the state – but the most elementary instruments were missing.

She couldn't have asked for a better context. Really. Now annoyed, she walked to the intercom and pressed the button.

"Susie? Are you here?"

No answer. Where had her assistant gone? She was already fully prepared for the autopsy and didn't feel like getting undressed just to go check by herself if the senior criminalist was around. Susie had to be there, anyway. She was the one who would assist her and she knew that Maura didn't like it when an autopsy was delayed.

_Will you calm down now, Isles? She may be welcoming the students. Have you thought about that? Don't be the judgemental boss you don't want to be! You asked her to welcome the student so you could prepare the room. _

_Don't be a bitch._

Repeating the last sentence in her head like a mantra, Maura walked to one of the cabinets and tried to find the missing scalpel there. She couldn't believe they didn't have an extra one. It was a ridiculous fault. Extremely unprofessional.

_So. Not. Like. You._

They had had to face a few unexpected autopsies the past few days but she usually made sure there were enough supplies at the morgue. A beginner knew that and she was far from being one.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"

The doors got slammed in her back but she barely heard them as Jane's hysterical voice suddenly rose in the usually quiet room.

Maura turned around and tilted her head. Her wife has no reason to be here as she didn't work on the case that was now lying on a metallic table nearby.

"What is going on?" Maura laughed lightly, amused by Jane's reaction. "This is so not... You. You got good news?"

The detective nodded and pointed out a sheet of paper she was holding; or better say, reducing to pieces in her fist.

"Margot's coming back! She got her baca... Baca-thing..."

"Baccalaureat."

Jane nodded, her enthusiasm contrasting sharply with Maura's legendary serenity. She feverishly got another look at the mail she had printed to make sure that what she was about to say was right.

"Yes, that." She grinned, giggled like a school girl. "Exactly. And she got accepted here. She's going to Cambridge for a year! Starting..." She squinted her eyes at the mail, looking for the dates. "Seems like... Her classes start in September but she arrives in July!" Jane nodded enthusiastically at her wife. "A whole year, Maura! She comes here for a year!"

For long seconds, Maura didn't react. Shocked by the news. As much as Margot had talked about it – about coming back for a full year once she was in college – Maura hadn't thought that she would do it so soon.

They hadn't seen her for a year, since their stay in France. The perspective of having her back in Boston went beyond her expectations. A grin matching Jane's lit up her features.

"Are you crying?" No answer. Jane approached her wife. "Maura... Are you crying?"

Sob.

"No...?"

Jane rolled her eyes – burst out laughing – and took Maura in her arms for a comforting hug. If she wanted to be completely honest, she had to admit that she was really touched by the news too.

They didn't consider Margot as their daughter but the bond they shared was very strong.

"You can't lie, now... You can't break into hives while a dozen of newbies are waiting in the hallway with Susie. I'm not sure they want to meet a medical examiner in tears."

Maura's fist landed on her wife's forearm without doing any harm at all. She pouted, forced to admit that Jane was right. Shrug.

"Whatever."

Gasp. Falsely offended, Jane made a mock of disgust and shook her head as if she couldn't believe it. Not that she was fooling anyone, her happiness was glowing.

"Don't you dare _whatever_ me...!"

"Then may I simply do that...?" Without waiting for an answer, Maura passed her arms around her wife's waist to pull her closer to her body and captured her lips in a bold kiss.

They rarely indulged in it when at work. It was an implicit rule, out of respect for their colleagues.

They had a professional conscience and wanted to stick to it as much as possible but sometimes, it was just too hard to resist.

"And this is the autop... Oh." Susie stopped right in her tracks, halfway between the doors and the room.

Jane and Maura turned their head around immediately, not really aware of the suggestive position they were in; leaned against the edge of an empty metallic table.

"Ahem..." The senior criminalist blushed, looked for her words. The only thing she was certain of right now was that she needed to avoid the students' amused eyes on her. "This is Detective Rizzoli... She... She has been working with us for a little while, now. And ahem... This is... Ahem..."

Maura straightened up and fully turned around to face the students. Almost too much at ease before such scene.

"Dr. Isles, chief medical examiner. Welcome to my office. Detective Rizzoli – who happens to be my wife – will not join us for today's autopsy but you might have a chance to see her again during your internship if you choose to... To do it with me. She is never really far."

Jane forced a smile, cursing Maura's ability to keep it up as if nothing had happened when all she wanted herself was to die at the scene.

_Until death do us part... Right, Rizzoli? Yeah... Death or shame, you mean. You never know with Maura. Let's face it._

The End

To be continued...

**_Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews, from day one to... Today. I hadn't planned on writing a sequel but since many of you felt the desire to read one, I will postpone the fic I wanted to start after Until Death Do Us Part and will write a sequel instead. It will start on Wednesday, which gives me a few days to come up with a plot of some sort. I hope you will enjoy it as well._**


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